Tennessee delays June execution due to virus

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee’s Supreme Court on Friday postponed the scheduled execution of a death row prisoner by eight months because of the Coronavirus.

Oscar Smith had been sentenced to die on June 4 for the murders of his estranged wife, Judy Lynn Smith, and her two sons from a previous marriage, Chad and Jason Burnett, in Nashville. On Friday, the court granted a motion requested by Smith’s attorneys to delay his execution. Smith’s new execution date is Feb. 4, 2021.

In asking for the delay last month, Smith’s attorneys said they had lost critical time to work on his case due to the restrictions put in place to stop the spread of the Coronavirus. It would be irresponsible for attorneys to conduct interviews, travel, meet with Smith and carry out other tasks during the outbreak as they pursued clemency and court challenges, they argued.

Attorney General Herbert Slatery’s office argued that the clemency efforts and the existing appeals were not legitimate reasons to delay the execution. However, the attorneys wrote that the Tennessee Supreme Court is “in the best position to determine whether a stay of execution should be granted in response to Coronavirus-related issues affecting the courts of this State.”

Smith’s lawyers also argued that holding an execution during a pandemic would require special safeguards to protect witnesses whose presence could risk transmitting the virus to staff and inmates at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution. Texas has already due to the outbreak.

The court’s Friday order was brief, simply granting the delay request without further comment.