Richard Bernard Moore, 57, was sentenced to death after being convicted of murder, assault with intent to kill, armed robbery and shooting in 2001. He said he had to choose between death by electric shock or gunshot wounds due to a lack of lethal chemical injections, arguing that both methods were “illegal and unconstitutional”.
Pharmaceutical companies refuse to supply deadly ingredients
Recent executions in the US have been carried out by lethal injection elsewhere, but South Carolina has been forced to abandon this method because drug manufacturers refuse to supply the necessary ingredients. As a result, Moore was forced to choose between an electric chair or a shooting range. An executive order has only been used three times in the United States since 1976 – all in western Utah – when the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty. In court records, Moore said he even disagreed with the obligation to make the decision. “I do not believe or admit that either the executive branch or the electric shock are legal or constitutional,” he said. “I do not believe in the Department [of Corrections] should be allowed to certify that a method prescribed by law, such as lethal injection, is not available without a good faith effort to dispose of it. “However, I strongly oppose death from electric shock. Because the department says I have to choose between an executive quote or an electric shock or to be performed by an electric shock, I will choose an executive quote. “I do not intend to give up any provocations for electric shock or executive branch by holding elections,” he added. If executed as scheduled on April 29, he would be the first person to be killed in the state since 2011 and the fourth in the country to be shot dead in nearly 50 years. Electric shock has been used for seven of the 43 executions in South Carolina since 1985. The last time was in 2008.
Severe and unusual punishment
There have been three executions in the United States this year and there were 11 in 2021, up from 17 in 2020. Moore’s lawyers have asked the state Supreme Court to delay his death, while another court is judging whether any of the available methods are harsh and unusual punishment. His lawyers are also asking the state Supreme Court to delay the execution so that the US Supreme Court can review whether his death sentence was a disproportionate sentence compared to similar crimes. State judges rejected a similar appeal last week. The South Carolina Correctional Facility said last month that it had completed the development of extradition execution protocols and completed $ 53,600 renovations to the Columbia death chamber by installing a metal chair with brackets overlooking a 15-foot-wide wall. In the event of an execution, three volunteer prison workers will train their rifles in the heart of the convicted prisoner.
