Lawyers for Leonard Taylor claim he was executed Tuesday before he had exhausted his final appeals in federal court.
“This has never happened in the nearly one hundred prior executions that have taken place in Missouri in the last thirty four years,†Taylor’s legal team said in a statement.
The lawyers, Kent Gipson and Kevin Schriener, are demanding an investigation by the Missouri Department of Corrections and law enforcement.
The investigation should “determine how and why this unprecedented and unlawful act occurred and identify the person or persons responsible,†the defense team of post-convictions attorneys said. Gipson is based in Kansas City and Schriener has an office in Clayton.
Taylor was convicted in the 2004 killings of his girlfriend, 28-year-old Angela Rowe, and Rowe’s three children, Alexus Conley, 10, AcQreya Conley, 6, and Tyrese Conley, 5. Taylor insisted he was innocent of the murders. He said he was in California when the family was killed in their Jennings home.
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Taylor, 58, was executed by lethal injection Tuesday evening at the prison in Bonne Terre.
The challenges to his conviction and death sentence had been exhausted. But, Schriener said, they had sought a temporary restraining order and stay of execution on Tuesday because Taylor’s spiritual advisor was not given permission to be in the execution chamber.
Two weeks ago, Taylor had waived his right to have witnesses at his execution. Over the weekend, Taylor decided he wanted the Department of Corrections to grant his spiritual adviser, Anthony Shahid, permission to pray with Taylor in the execution chamber. A prison spokeswoman said that, by the time Taylor asked for that, it was too late to make a change to the witness list. Authorities say the prison needs to conduct background checks on visitors days in advance.
“We were arguing this was a violation of his First Amendment rights,†Schriener said.
The Missouri Attorney General’s Office argued that Taylor was making a “meritless, last-minute attempt to delay justice.â€
Taylor’s death warrant was good for a 24-hour period starting at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
At 5:48 p.m. Tuesday, attorneys were alerted electronically that U.S. District Court Judge Ronnie White had denied their request for a temporary restraining order and stay.
At 5:52 p.m., it was announced that all pending appeals and petitions, including one before the U.S. Supreme Court, had been denied.
“The Attorney General’s Office told the Department of Corrections that all petitions had been exhausted and the execution should proceed,†said Karen Pojmann, a spokeswoman for the Department of Corrections.
At 5:58 p.m., all witnesses were moved into the viewing area.
At 6:01 p.m., Taylor’s lawyers said they emailed the 8th Circuit and the Missouri Attorney General’s Office to let them know Taylor planned to appeal.
At 6:02 p.m., the Missouri attorney general told the prison that all legal impediments had been exhausted.
At 6:06 p.m., Gov. Mike Parson said there was no reason the execution shouldn’t go forward.
At 6:07 p.m., the drug pentobarbital began being administered to Taylor who was strapped to a gurney and covered by a sheet.
At 6:16 p.m., Taylor was pronounced dead, Pojmann said.
Taylor’s lawyers said they were trying to appeal Judge White’s order to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, and then if that court denied it they would appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“While it is true there was no stay in place that would have prevented an execution, we were proceeding with the civil rights complaint to the appellate court,†Schriener told the Post-Dispatch. “That didn’t happen because they killed him.â€
Pojmann, the Department of Corrections spokeswoman, didn’t have a comment on the lawyers’ complaints. She said the corrections department “doesn’t make legal decisions in these cases.†She referred a reporter to the state’s attorney general.
Madeline Sieren, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Andrew Bailey, said on Thursday that there was “no legal impediment†to executing Taylor.
“As there was no stay in place, the Attorney General’s Office fulfilled its legal obligation to notify the Governor’s Office and the Department of Corrections at the appropriate time that there was no legal impediment to carrying out the execution warrant set forth by the Missouri Supreme Court.â€
Katie Kull of the Post-Dispatch staff contributed to this report