Federal court postpones Manuel Valle execution
by Dara Kam | September 2nd, 2011A federal court in Atlanta has postponed the execution of convicted cop killer Manuel Valle until at least Thursday.
It’s the second time since Gov. Rick Scott signed Valle’s death warrant – the only one Scott has signed since taking office in January – earlier this year that his execution has been stayed.
Valle, who has spent more than three decades on Death Row, was slated to be put to death by lethal injection on Tuesday.
The Florida Supreme Court in July put his execution, originally set for Aug. 2, on hold after his lawyers raised objections to the state’s use of a new drug as part of the lethal injection formula. Department of Corrections officials substituted pentobarbital for a drug no longer manufactured as the first of the three-drug lethal injection “cocktail.”
Since his conviction for the 1978 killing of Coral Gables police officer Louis Pena, Valle has been sentenced to death and re-sentenced three times in legal wrangling that eventually reached the U.S. Supreme Court, which overturned his death penalty in 1987. Courts later reaffirmed his death penalty conviction.
On Aug. 23, the Florida Supreme Court On Tuesday, the court approved the Department of Corrections’ new drug protocol, saying it did not pose a substantial risk of harm to the inmate.
Valle’s lawyers are also pursuing other appeals, including with the U.S. Supreme Court.
Tags: death penalty, Death Row, Florida Supreme Court, lethal injection, Manuel Valle, Rick Scott, U.S. Supreme Court
September 2nd, 2011 at 11:36 pm
1 hollow point bullet in temple or under chin works everytime. Very little discomfort. Where is the justice in dragging this stuff out for over 3 decades? The guy killed a cop and carrying out sentence due to use of a new drug is holding it up?? Insane!
September 5th, 2011 at 1:52 pm
“New drug protocol did not pose a substantial risk of harm to the inmate!” ?
The man’s going to be dead after they give it too him!! This sounds more insane and dangerous than the actually crime he committed! 3o years of having execution hanging over your head? That’s unbelievable torture!
September 5th, 2011 at 11:32 pm
This is unbelieveable. I like the bullet idea. Time to put this bastard out of his misery! He has suffered enough.
September 6th, 2011 at 6:37 pm
Manuel swallows and should die