A South Carolina prisoner scheduled to be the first man executed in the state in more than a decade has decided to die by firing squad rather than in the electric chair, according to court documents filed Friday.
via: Revolt
According to the Associated Press, Moore has decided to die by firing squad instead of the electric chair.
His execution is the state’s first in over a decade.
Moore stated clearly in a recent statement that he hopes the court will deem both methods of execution unjust.
“I believe this election is forcing me to choose between two unconstitutional methods of execution, and I do not intend to waive any challenges to electrocution or firing squad by making an election,” Moore said in the statement.
Moore’s option to choose the firing squad method, where three prison workers aim their rifles at him and shoot, is the result of a bill that passed in South Carolina in May 2021. The new law makes electrocution the default way to die for death row prisoners, however it allows them to choose the firing squad option.
The South Carolina Department of Corrections said that its shortage of lethal injection drugs prompted the firing squad alternative.
Per AP, Moore, who is 57, is the first state prisoner to have the choice of execution methods.
Moore is hoping that the South Carolina Supreme Court will delay his execution while the U.S. Supreme Court decides whether electrocution and the firing squad option is cruel and unusual punishment.
His attorneys feel that the state isn’t trying hard enough to obtain the lethal injection drugs and it is forcing death row inmates to choose between outdated methods, AP reports.
Earlier this month, the South Carolina Supreme Court denied an appeal by Moore which challenged his death sentence in comparison to penalties of similar cases.
Moore has been on death row for over two decades after he was convicted of the 1999 killing of convenience store clerk James Mahoney in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
His execution is currently scheduled for Friday, April 29.
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