Death row inmate challenges governor's reprieve
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
SALEM, Ore. (AP) -- An Oregon death row inmate has argued that the governor has no legal basis to give him a reprieve.
In a letter released Tuesday, an attorney for death row inmate Gary Haugen (HOW'-gen) says Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber's indefinite postponement of Haugen's execution fails to meet the basis for a reprieve.
The Oregonian reports (http://bit.ly/wAvCTi ) Haugen's attorney says Kitzhaber issued the reprieve as a way to skirt Oregon law.
Haugen was serving a life sentence for killing Mary Archer when he killed another inmate in prison and was sentenced to death.
He waived his appeals and agreed to be executed, and called Kitzhaber a coward for canceling the execution last year.
Kitzhaber has said he won't oversee any executions because he believes the state's death penalty scheme is unfair.
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Information from: The Oregonian, http://www.oregonlive.com
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