TENNESSEE: State appeals Workman execution delay

AP via KnoxNews ^ | 5/7/7

[SmithL]

NASHVILLE — The state has asked a federal appeals court to lift a temporary restraining order that has delayed the execution of death row inmate Philip Workman set for this week.

In a motion filed today with the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, the state seeks an expedited action to overturn the order handed down Friday by a U.S. District Court judge in Nashville.

The state is hoping to get the restraining order overturned and put Workman's execution, set for Wednesday, back on track.

Attorney General Robert Cooper Jr. argues in the filing that the restraining order amounted to a stay of execution, but Workman did not meet the requirements for a stay.

U.S. District Judge Todd Campbell ordered a delay until May 14 and cited the likelihood that Tennessee's new death penalty guidelines unveiled last week could still cause unconstitutional pain and suffering.

Cooper argues that Workman unnecessarily delayed in filing his challenge to the state's three-drug lethal injection protocol seven years after the state adopted lethal injection as its primary method of execution.

The state released its revised guidelines after a three-month moratorium on executions, but the new guidelines still include the use of the three-drug injection that opponents have called needlessly cruel.

Cooper also pointed to the fact that Workman has come within days of being executed five previous times and never challenged the state's lethal injection procedures.

"Workman's previous failure ever to have challenged the three-drug protocol, particularly in the face of all these instances in which one would have expected him to have done so, is fatal to his equitable request for time to do so now," Cooper writes.

In a response also filed Monday, lawyers for Workman argue that Gov. Phil Bredesen revoked all execution protocols in the state until the revised guidelines were released, which didn't allow Workman to challenge the old method of execution until now.

Kelley Henry, an assistant federal public defender on Workman's case, argued in the response that the new execution guidelines were drawn up in secret and that Workman could not challenge them until they were released.

Workman, who was convicted for the 1981 shooting death of Memphis police Lt. Ronald Oliver, robbed a Wendy's restaurant and then got into a gun battle with police. He wounded another officer and shot at a third, but he now contends Oliver was accidentally shot by another officer.

Workman, 53, also lost an appeal before the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. His lawyers claimed he was convicted on perjured testimony and that the state withheld evidence that would have established Workman's innocence.

[SmithL]

Campbell, Todd J.

Born 1956 in Rockford, IL

Federal Judicial Service:
Judge, U. S. District Court, Middle District of Tennessee
Nominated by William J. Clinton on June 27, 1995, to a seat vacated by Thomas A. Wiseman, Jr.; Confirmed by the Senate on December 22, 1995, and received commission on December 26, 1995. Served as chief judge, 2005-present.

Education:
Vanderbilt University, B.A., 1978

University of Tennessee College of Law, J.D., 1982

Professional Career:
Private practice, Nashville, Tennessee, 1982-1993
Deputy campaign manager for legal affairs and treasurer, Albert Gore, Jr. For President Committee, 1987-1988
Counsel to personnel department, Clinton/Gore Presidential Transition, 1992-1993
Deputy counsel to the Vice President & director of administration, Office of the Vice President, of the United States 1993
Counsel to the Vice President & director of administration, Office of the Vice President, of the United States 1993-1995
Private practice, Nashville, Tennessee, 1995

Race or Ethnicity: White

Gender: Male

[SmithL]

Follow-up to : Federal judge delays Workman execution

[SmithL]

UPDATE: Court allows Workman execution to proceed