Attorneys for an Alabama death row inmate scheduled to face execution a week from Thursday have filed a series of appeals with the Alabama Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court.
Attorneys for Casey McWhorter, convicted of capital murder in 1994 for the murder of Edward Lee Williams in 1993, argue that the Nov. 16 timeline set for his execution violates state law because McWhorter received notice 29 days before the execution, instead of the 30 that normally precede it.
“The governor’s inadequate notice violates Mr. McWhorter’s constitutional rights to due process and equal protection,” McWhorter’s attorneys wrote in an appeal to the Alabama Supreme Court. “This court should act to ensure it retains control over, and consistency in, its rulemaking power and exercises its supervisory authority over executions.”
Gov. Kay Ivey announced in an Oct. 18 news release she had set the time window for executing McWhorter between midnight Nov. 16 to 6 a.m. Nov. 17.