
Death row inmate opposes setting execution date
Death row inmate Willie Jerome Manning has told the Mississippi Supreme Court that he has more arguments to make, meaning now is not the time to be setting an execution date sought by the attorney general’s office.
Manning was recently denied an appeal by the U.S. Supreme Court in the deaths of two college students. The attorney general’s office asked the Mississippi court to schedule the execution for April 24.
In a brief filed on April 1, Manning’s attorney said there are issues pending before the state high court. Manning is seeking a new trial, arguing that a jailhouse informant had recanted his testimony; that Manning’s trial attorney was ineffective; and that blacks were improperly kept off his trial jury. […]