The Execution of Warren Hill: Lawyer Tries to Save "Mentally Retarded" Death Row Inmate

Impact

Brian Kammer, a Georgia lawyer, has filed two emergency petitions to attempt to stay Warren Hill's execution on Tuesday — reported The Guardian

The 53-year-old Georgia death row inmate was sentenced to death for killing a fellow prisoner — Joseph Handspike — in 1990 while he was already serving a life sentence for murdering his girlfriend — Myra Wright (even though medical specialists say Hill is "mentally retarded" and that he should be protected under the supreme court ban).  

According to The Guardian, Kammer's petition is with the Georgia courts that draws on the doctors' revised testimony to argue that the execution should be put on hold, supplemented by a request to the state's clemency board asking them to reconsidering pardoning Hill and commuting his sentence to life without parole.

If granted, this would be a repeat of events last July when Hill came within 90 minutes of losing his life before the highest court in Georgia stepped in and ordered a stay.