Jeffrey Lee, 49, is scheduled to be executed tonight at 6 PM local time at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Alabama. This execution comes three months after a court blocked previous plans to execute him using nitrogen gas.
Case Details
Jeffrey Lee was convicted of murdering two people during a robbery at a pawn shop in Dallas County in 1998. Following an initial plan for execution using nitrogen gas on June 11, he will now be executed by lethal injection. His lawyers are making final efforts to prevent the execution, pointing to a 7-5 jury vote that recommended life imprisonment without parole, but the trial judge ignored this verdict.
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Legal Challenges
Lee's lawyers have also requested the Supreme Court to examine whether Alabama can execute him by lethal injection, while the state had previously agreed that if he were to be executed, it would be by hypoxic nitrogen. This case dates back to 2016 when Lee sued over Alabama's lethal injection protocol. After the state approved nitrogen gas, Lee chose the hypoxic nitrogen method and withdrew his lawsuit in 2018 after the state agreed that "if he is executed," this method would be used.
Lee's lawyers argue that Alabama must adhere to this agreement and cannot now execute him by lethal injection. They have asked the Supreme Court to halt the execution while it reviews the matter. The Alabama Attorney General's office has argued that nothing prevents changes to execution methods and has asked the court to allow the execution to proceed. State lawyers wrote: "Almost twenty-eight years is long enough."
Crime History
The murders occurred on December 12, 1998, at Jimmy's pawn shop in Orville, west of Selma. Prosecutors claim that Lee entered the shop and asked the shop owner, Jimmy Ellis, and employee, Elaine Thompson, to show him wedding rings. He then returned with a sawed-off shotgun and fatally shot Jimmy Ellis and Elaine Thompson, and also shot a third employee who survived by pretending to be dead and called emergency services after Lee left.
Jimmy Ellis had previously gained national attention as an Elvis Presley impersonator known as "Orion" and was recognized for his vocal resemblance to the singer. His life later became the subject of a documentary in 2015. Lee was convicted of murder and attempted murder in 2000. Despite a 7-5 jury vote for life without parole, the trial judge ignored this recommendation and sentenced Lee to death. Alabama abolished the judicial override in 2017, but this change does not apply retroactively.
Lee is one of about two dozen people on the state's death row for whom juries have recommended life sentences, but judges have imposed death sentences. Supporters of clemency for Lee gathered outside the Alabama State Capitol on Tuesday, holding signs reading "Respect the Jury."
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Source: independent.co.uk
