A South Dakota death row inmate who gave up all of his appeals has to return to federal court next week. That’s because an outside attorney has filed paperwork requesting a judge stay his planned execution.
Monday Donald Moeller must appear before Judge Lawrence Piersol in Sioux Falls. Donna Nichols is listed in court papers as a friend of Moeller’s. She asks the judge to prevent Moeller’s execution by lethal injection, which is scheduled for the week of October 28, 2012.
South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley says Moeller himself admitted his guilt and accepts the death penalty. He has two main arguments planned for Monday.
"The state’s position is that the petitioner filing the request for stay does not have legal standing or the legal ability to make these claims," Jackley says.
Jackley says he also plans to argue that, even if temporarily postponed, it’s likely the court would uphold South Dakota’s lethal injection protocol and Donald Moeller would be executed.
