Jessie Hoffman Jr. Photo credit: Louisiana Department of Corrections
It’s off again — for now.
The execution of Jessie Hoffman has once again been put on hold.
Monday afternoon, 19th Judicial District Court Judge Chip Moore issued an injunction that ordered the halt pending a hearing at 9:30 Tuesday morning.
Back in state court, Hoffman and his lawyers are arguing that using nitrogen hypoxia violates Hoffman’s rights to religious freedom under both the First Amendment and the federal Preservation of Religious Freedom Act, citing his Buddhist faith.
“The method of nitrogen gassing denies Jessie the opportunity to meditatively breathe during his final moments,” says Cecelia Kappel, an attorney for Jessie Hoffman and the director of the Center for Social Justice at Loyola University College of Law. “Louisiana’s state law prohibits the government from interfering with the exercise of religious faith, and Judge Moore will decide the important question of whether the state of Louisiana can take away someone’s ability to practice their religion at such a critical moment as the transition between life and death.”
“Attorneys for Mr. Hoffman continue to file pleadings in an attempt to see what will stick,” says Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill. “We’ll continue to address them as they come, however, I expect the execution to go forward as planned. The currently issued TRO only lasts until 9:30 Tuesday morning. If necessary, we will once again seek relief in the Louisiana Supreme Court.”
Murrill says she plans on being in Angola Tuesday for Hoffman’s execution.
Last week, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned an injunction by Federal District Court Judge Shelly Dick, who ruled that using nitrogen hypoxia to execute death row inmates may be considered cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the 8th Amendment.
The action by the 5th Circuit reinstated Tuesday’s execution date.
Hoffman’s lawyers argued to the Louisiana Supreme Court that keeping the original execution date violates state law, but the state’s high court decided Sunday it was not going to intervene.
Loyola University New Orleans College of Law professor Dane Ciolino said Hoffman’s team had a very valid argument.
“The Louisiana Revised Statutes state very clearly that there needs to be a reset on the execution date given these recent developments of at least 30 to 45 days,” says Ciolino.”
With those rulings, it was believed that Hoffman’s last remaining hope to stop his execution was with the U.S. Supreme Court.
However, Hoffman’s lawyers filed the new motion in district court Monday, leading to the latest injunction.
“They have raised freedom of religion and free exercise of religion issues before,” says Ciolino. “This one appears to be a new twist on that same argument.”
Ciolino says such last-minute legal maneuvering by the defense is not unusual.
“This is fairly typical in death penalty cases,” Ciolino points out, “with lawyers bouncing from court to court and the up appeal chains all in an effort to halt an execution.”
Ciolino says depending on what happens today in both Judge Moore’s courtroom and at the U.S. Supreme Court, it still may happen.
“I think we can continue to see this throughout the day (Tuesday) as the execution hour approaches,” Ciolino says.
Hoffman is awaiting execution for kidnapping, raping and killing 28-year-old advertising executive Molly Elliott in 1996.
He’s not contesting his death sentence; rather, he’s contesting the method of execution.
Comments