A South Carolina death row inmate scheduled for execution later this month is asking the state Supreme Court to delay the execution so his defense can argue that a co-defendant who testified against him lied about there being no plea deal in exchange for his testimony.
Freddie Eugene Owens, 46, is scheduled to be executed Sept. 20 for the murder of store clerk Eileen Graves during a series of robberies in Greenville in 1997. After his conviction in 1999, Owens killed his cellmate in the Greenville County Jail before his sentence was carried out.
In addition to arguing for the plea deal, Owens' lawyers said in court documents filed Friday that jurors saw Owens have to wear an electronic stun device in court to ensure good behavior, but the judge never mentioned why he had to wear it. Associated Press.
The announcement comes as South Carolina seeks to execute Owens, which would mark the state's first execution in 13 years after a moratorium forced by recent struggles to obtain lethal injection drugs.
South Carolina's first execution in more than 13 years is scheduled for next month
Freddie Eugene Owens, 46, is scheduled to be executed Sept. 20 for the 1997 murder of store clerk Eileen Graves. (South Carolina Department of Corrections via The Associated Press)
Lawyers for the state have until Thursday to respond to Owens' request to stay the execution while he presents new evidence to the judge and asks for a new trial.
The bar for granting a new trial is typically high after a death row inmate has exhausted his appeals. Owens' lawyers said his previous defense team carefully reviewed his case, but that the new evidence only emerged in interviews as his execution drew closer.
Co-defendant Steven Golden testified that 27 years ago, Owens shot Graves in the head at a Greenville store because Graves couldn't open a safe.
The store had surveillance cameras that did not clearly capture the shooting, and prosecutors were never able to find the weapon used in the shooting or present any forensic evidence linking Owens to the murder.
Golden told jurors at his 1999 trial that he had not made a plea deal with prosecutors and that he could be sentenced to death or life in prison after his testimony.
But in an affidavit signed Aug. 22, Golden said he made a side deal with prosecutors, a confession that Owens' lawyers said might have changed the minds of jurors who believed his testimony.
“My plea agreement stated that the death penalty or life in prison was still a possibility, but there was no specific guarantee of what the sentence would be,” Golden said in a statement. “That is not true. We had a verbal agreement that there would not be the death penalty or life in prison.”
This undated photo provided by the South Carolina Department of Corrections shows the state's execution chamber in Columbia, South Carolina, with the electric chair on the right and the firing squad chair on the left. (South Carolina Department of Corrections, via The Associated Press, File)
Golden pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of intentional homicide and was sentenced to 28 years in prison, according to court records.
Regarding the electronic stun device Owens wore during his trial, his lawyers said courts have long required judges to explain to jurors why a defendant is wearing shackles or other visible restraints, and that judges must balance the safety of the courtroom with the impact that electronic stun devices could have on a fair trial.
Owens' lawyers argued that the judge failed to do so at trial.
South Carolina, once one of the states with the highest number of executions, has not carried out an execution since 2011 because of difficulties obtaining drugs in recent years as pharmaceutical companies worried about having to disclose that they sold drugs to state authorities after their supplies expired. But the state Legislature passed a protective law last year that allows authorities to keep the source of their drug supplies secret.
South Carolina has used a three-drug cocktail in the past, but will now follow the same federal procedure as the state and use just one drug, the sedative pentobarbital, for lethal injections.
Owens' new options for execution include lethal injection, electrocution and firing squad. He has until September 6 to choose his execution method. He has delegated the decision to his attorney, Emily Pavola.
If Owens doesn't make a decision, he will be sent to the electric chair, which is not how he wants to die, Pavola said. Lawyers for the state have asked the South Carolina Supreme Court to decide whether Owens' lawyers can make that decision for him.
Prosecutors seek death penalty for Pennsylvania doctoral student accused of killing friend's baby
South Carolina, once one of the states with the highest number of executions, has not carried out an execution since 2011. (AP Photo/Sue Oglocki, File)
“Mr. Owens holds a long-held and deeply held religious belief that physically signing his ballot is an active role in causing one's own death and is tantamount to suicide. Under Mr. Owens' Islamic teachings, suicide is a sin and forbidden,” Paavola wrote in court documents.
The state Supreme Court also announced Friday that it would allow at least five weeks between executions.
Click here to get the FOX News app
The court rejected a request by lawyers for a three-month gap between executions to ease pressure on death row inmates that could lead to prison officials making mistakes and to give lawyers more time to focus on each inmate's case.
In exchange, the court committed to a five-week gap between executions. Courts can order executions every Friday if they want, according to state law and a timeline first released when a judge ruled last month to resume executions. Prison officials told the state that four weeks was acceptable.
South Carolina currently has 32 people on death row.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
