Death row inmate Joseph Corcoran executed for quadruple murder
Convicted murderer Joseph Corcoran was pronounced dead by lethal injection at 12:44 a.m. Wednesday morning, marking the first Indiana execution since 2009.
Death Penalty
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Web exclusive: SCOTUS decision ‘shuts door’ on ineffective counsel claims brought in federal court
In the winter of 2021, two death row prisoners raised claims in habeas corpus proceedings that their trial attorneys were constitutionally ineffective. But the nation’s highest court split in a decision last month ruling that they could not introduce evidence outside of the state court record due to restrictions imposed by a federal law.
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Year in Review: COVID aside, Barrett’s ascent to SCOTUS tops year’s biggest legal news stories
COVID may have seemed like the only thing that happened in 2020, but for Indiana’s legal community, the past year brought watershed developments that will be with us for years to come, many of which were touched directly by the pandemic. Here are the Top 10 non-coronavirus Indiana legal news stories as determined by consensus of the Indiana Lawyer editorial staff.
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Web exclusive: Young attorney driven in fight to abolish capital punishment
Attorney Ashley Eve was one of more than a dozen death penalty protesters who claimed that their First Amendment rights were violated when Indiana State Police set up roadblocks that kept capital punishment protestors almost 2 miles away from the federal prison in Terre Haute while three executions took place there last month. Eve was motivated to a career in law by her opposition to the death penalty.
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Resuming executions: As DOJ reinstates capital punishment, Southern District unsure what’s next
With federal death row in its jurisdiction, the Southern Indiana District Court is preparing but does not know what to expect as the U.S. Department of Justice moves forward with the resumption of executions after nearly two decades.
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Articles
Federal appeals court denies stay of execution for Indiana death row inmate Joseph Corcoran
The U.S. Court of Appeals late Monday denied a request to stay Indiana death row inmate Joseph Corcoran’s execution, which is scheduled to take place before sunrise Wednesday.
Sister, former lawyer decry upcoming Indiana execution; prosecutor conflicted
Joseph Corcoran’s legal team is asking a federal judge to step in and pause the execution to allow for a hearing and review of their claims that putting the inmate to death is unconstitutional.
Indiana Supreme Court justices explain why execution will go forward
The court’s ruling emphasized that concerns raised by defense counsel over Joseph Corcoran’s mental health have already “been thoroughly litigated in both state and federal courts.” Those prior court proceedings concluded that Corcoran was competent to waive his post-conviction options.
Indiana death row inmate’s mental illness warrants delayed execution for case review, lawyers say
In new court documents, Joseph Corcoran’s legal team doubled down that the Indiana death row inmate’s “severe” mental illness has prevented him from properly requesting post-conviction relief.
Refusing to sign clemency petition, Indiana Supreme Court weighs death row inmate’s final plea
About two weeks away from scheduled execution, Indiana death row inmate Joseph Corcoran’s last-ditch attempts to quash his capital punishment sentence are still up in the air.
Corcoran attorneys seek stay of execution on basis of mental illness
Attorneys for convicted murderer Joseph Corcoran on Friday filed for a stay of execution, arguing it’s cruel and unusual punishment to execute someone who is seriously mentally ill.
Indiana Department of Correction refuses to disclose cost of new execution drug, pentobarbital
The Indiana Department of Correction has refused to disclose how much the state paid to acquire a new execution drug, pentobarbital, that could be used to carry out at least one death warrant before the end of the year.
Counsel for convicted murderer given until Nov. 1 to file clemency request
Counsel for Benjamin Ritchie, a man convicted in 2002 of murdering Beech Grove Police Officer William Toney, have until Nov. 1 to file a clemency request in response to the state’s motion to set an execution date, Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Loretta Rush wrote in an Oct. 3 order.
Supreme Court taking the bench with ghost guns, a capital case and transgender rights on the docket
The Supreme Court is taking the bench again on Monday, ready to hear cases on ghost guns, a death sentence and transgender rights.
With Indiana’s next execution just 11 weeks away, clemency request is next move
Larry Komp, lead attorney for death row inmate Joseph Corcoran’s legal team, told the Indiana Capital Chronicle his client is seeking a last plea with a clemency petition, however. Komp said he plans to visit with Corcoran — who’s currently being held at the Indiana State Prison— and file the necessary paperwork this week.
5 executions have happened over a week’s span in the US
Experts say five executions being scheduled within one week is simply an anomaly that resulted from courts or elected officials in individual states setting dates around the same time after inmates exhausted their appeals.
Execution date set for Allen Co. murderer
The Indiana Supreme Court set the date for inmate Joseph E. Corcoran’s death Wednesday.
Missouri death row inmate gets another chance at a hearing that could spare his life
Williams, 55, is scheduled to be executed on Sept. 24 for the 1998 stabbing death of Lisha Gayle in the St. Louis suburb of University City. St. Louis County Circuit Judge Bruce Hilton on Wednesday will preside over an evidentiary hearing challenging Williams’ guilt. But the key piece of evidence to support Williams is DNA testing that is no longer viable.
A Florida man set to be executed this week appeals to the US Supreme Court for a stay
A Florida man scheduled to be put to death on Thursday is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to delay his execution so that his challenge to Florida’s lethal injection procedures can be heard.
Texas man whose lawyers say is intellectually disabled facing execution for 1997 killing of jogger
A Texas man described as intellectually disabled by his lawyers faced execution on Wednesday for strangling and trying to rape a woman who went jogging near her Houston home more than 27 years ago.
State attorneys reject pleas from Indiana death row inmate, press for court to set execution date
Earlier this month, Corcoran’s lawyers said in court filing that he is “unquestionably seriously mentally ill” and therefore should not be subject to the death penalty.
Supreme Court grants Texas man a stay of execution just before his scheduled lethal injection
The U.S. Supreme Court granted a stay of execution for a Texas man shortly before he was to receive a lethal injection in a killing decades ago.
Public comments open for recommendations on death penalty rule, state to address mental illness defense for death row inmate
The Commission on Court Appointed Attorneys is requesting public comment on recommendations to the state’s death penalty rule.
Indiana death row inmate’s lawyers say mental illness should preclude him from execution
Attorneys for Indiana death row inmate Joseph Corcoran appealed the state’s request for an execution date on Thursday, maintaining that he is “unquestionably seriously mentally ill” and therefore should not be subject to the death penalty.