oh texas...
(CNN) -- Texas death row inmate Duane Edward Buck was waiting
to see if the U.S. Supreme Court will decide his fate before his
scheduled Thursday execution date comes to an end.
Buck had been
set to die by injection Thursday, but the U.S. Supreme Court issued a
temporary stay of his sentence while it reviews his case.
Justice
Antonin Scalia received the request and "referred (it) to the court."
The stay was granted "pending the disposition for a writ of certiorari"
-- a legal term related to a higher court reviewing a lower court's
decision -- according to the court order.
The convicted murderer
had already eaten what may have been his final meal -- consisting of
fried chicken, fried fish, french fries, salad, jalapeno peppers and
apples -- when word came down about the temporary stay, Texas Department
of Criminal Justice spokesman Jason Clark said.
Clark added
that, after hearing the news from his attorney, Buck said, "Praise the
Lord Jesus. God is worthy to be praised. God's mercy triumphs over
judgment, and I feel good."
He was soon sent back to death row, according to Clark.
These developments come two days after the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles recommended against granting Buck clemency.
The
ruling was made after Phyllis Taylor, one of Buck's surviving victim's,
spoke with the chairwoman of the board to seek clemency for him.
Taylor
was one of three people shot by Buck in 1995 after an early morning
argument. Debra Gardner and Kenneth Butler were killed when Buck
returned to Gardner's home with two rifles and opened fire on his
victims. According to Texas officials, Buck shot Gardner in front of her
daughter, who begged for her mother's life.
In a statement
released after the board's ruling, Buck's attorney, Katherine C. Black,
said the recommendation, "fails to recognize what the highest legal
officer in the state of Texas has acknowledged: No one should be
executed based on a process tainted by considerations of race."
Black
is referring to U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, who was the state's attorney
general in 2000, when he spoke of seven death row inmates, including
Buck. Cornyn said he believed the inmates had been unfairly sentenced to
death based on testimony that was racially tainted by psychologist
Walter Quijano, who repeatedly told juries that black or Hispanic
defendants were more likely to commit future crimes.
Because of that testimony, six of those seven inmates were granted resentencing trials. Buck was not among them.
"We want to make sure people aren't executed based on the color of their skin," Black said.
On
Monday, Linda Geffin, a former Harris County assistant district
attorney who prosecuted Buck, joined Taylor in calling for Buck's
execution to be stopped.
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