South Carolina executes Richard Moore despite broadly supported plea to cut sentence to life

COLUMBIA, SC (AP) — South Carolina put Richard Moore to death by lethal injection Friday for the 1999 fatal shooting of a convenience store clerk, despite a broad appeal for mercy by parties that included three jurors and the judge from his trial, a former prison director, pastors and members of his family.

Moore, 59, was pronounced dead at 6:24 p.m.

Moore was convicted of killing James Mahoney, the Spartanburg clerk, in September 1999 and sentenced to death two years later. Moore went into the store unarmed, took a gun from the victim when it was pointed at him and fatally shot him in the chest as the victim shot him with a second gun in the arm.

Moore's lawyers asked Republican Governor Henry McMaster to reduce his sentence to life in prison without parole because of his spotless prison record and willingness to be a mentor to other inmates.

They also said it would be unjust to execute someone for what could be considered self-defence and unfair that Moore, who was Black, was the only inmate on the state's death row convicted by a jury without any African Americans.

But McMaster refused to grant clemency. In a letter, he did not give a reason why but said he reviewed all the items submitted by Moore's lawyers and spoke to the victim's family.

No South Carolina governor has reduced a death sentence, and 45 executions have now been carried out in the state since the US Supreme Court allowed states to restart them nearly 50 years ago.

Unlike in previous executions, the curtain to the death chamber was open when media witnesses arrived.

Moore's last words had already been read by Lindsey Vann, his lawyer of 10 years.

Moore had his eyes closed, and his head was pointed toward the ceiling. A prison employee announced the execution could begin at 6:01 p.m. Moore took several deep breaths that sounded like snores over the next minute. Then he took some shallow breaths until about 6:04, when his breathing stopped. Moore showed no obvious signs of discomfort.

Vann cried as the employee announced the execution could start. She clutched a prayer bracelet with a cross. Sitting beside her was a spiritual advisor, his hands on his knees, palms up. 

Two members of the victims' family were also present, along with Solicitor Barry Barnette, who was on the prosecution team that convicted Moore. They all watched stoically.

Afterward prison spokeswoman Chrysti Shain read his last words at a news conference.

"To the family of Mr James Mahoney, I am deeply sorry for the pain and sorrow I caused you all," he said. "To my children and granddaughters, I love you and am so proud of you. Thank you for the joy you have brought to my life. To all of my family and friends, new and old, thank you for your love and support."

His final meal was steak cooked medium, fried catfish and shrimp, scalloped potatoes, green peas, broccoli with cheese, sweet potato pie, German chocolate cake and grape juice.

Three jurors who condemned Moore to death in 2001, including one who wrote Friday, sent letters asking McMaster to change his sentence to life without parole. They were joined by a former state prison director, Moore's trial judge, his son and daughter, a half-dozen childhood friends and several pastors.

They all said Moore, 59, was a changed man who loved God, doted on his new grandchildren the best he could, helped guards keep the peace and mentored other prisoners after his addiction to drugs clouded his judgement and led to the shootout in which Mahoney was killed, according to the clemency petition.

"He was not a danger to anyone, and the state eliminated a glowing example of reform and rehabilitation," the Justice 360 law firm, which represented Moore, said in a statement. "By killing Richard, the State also created more victims. Richard's children are now fatherless, and his grandchildren will have to grow up without their 'Pa Pa.'"

Moore previously had two execution dates postponed as the state sorted through issues that created a 13-year pause in the death penalty, including companies' refusal to sell the state lethal injection drugs, a hurdle that was solved by passing a secrecy law.

Moore is the second inmate executed in South Carolina since it resumed executions. Four more are out of appeals, and the state appears ready to put them to death in five-week intervals through the spring.

There are now 30 people on death row.

The governor said before the execution that he would carefully review everything sent by Moore's lawyers and, as is customary, wait until minutes before the execution started to announce his decision after hearing that all appeals were finished.

"Clemency is a matter of grace, a matter of mercy. There is no standard. There is no real law on it," McMaster told reporters Thursday.

Prosecutors and Mahoney's relatives have not spoken publicly in the weeks leading up to the execution and did not speak after. In the past, family members have said they suffered deeply and wanted justice to be served.

Moore's lawyers said his original attorneys did not analyse the crime scene carefully and left unchallenged prosecutors' contention that Moore, who came into the store unarmed, fired at a customer and that his intention from the start was a robbery.

According to their account, the clerk pulled a gun on Moore after the two argued because he was 12 cents short for what he wanted to buy.

Moore said he wrestled the gun from Mahoney's hand and the clerk pulled a second weapon. Moore was shot in the arm and fired back, hitting Mahoney in the chest. Moore then went behind the counter and stole about $1,400.

No one else on South Carolina's death row started their crime unarmed and with no intention to kill, Moore's current attorneys say.

Jon Ozmint, a former prosecutor who was director of the South Carolina Department of Corrections from 2003 to 2011 and who added his voice to those seeking clemency, said Moore's case was not the worst-of-the-worst kind of crime that would usually prompt a death penalty case.

There are plenty of people who were not sentenced to death but committed much more heinous crimes, Ozmint said, citing the example of Todd Kohlhepp, who was given a life sentence after pleading guilty to killing seven people including a woman he raped and tortured for days.

Lawyers for Moore, who is Black, also said his trial was not fair. There were no African Americans on the jury even though 20 per cent of Spartanburg County residents were Black.

"This execution underscores the flaws in South Carolina's death penalty system. Who is executed versus who is allowed to live out their lives in prison appears to be based on no more than chance, race, or status. It is intolerable that our state metes out the ultimate punishment in such a haphazard way," Justice 360 said.

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