Montana Supreme Court asked to decide on conflictin execution orders in death-row case
By Matt Volz (CP) – November 12, 2010
HELENA, Mont. — One district judge set a Jan. 31 execution date for a Canadian man who pleaded guilty to two killings in 1982.
Another district judge ordered a stay in the execution.
Now the Montana Supreme Court is being asked to decide who's right.
District Judge John W. Larson on Friday asked the state Supreme Court to void District Judge Jeffrey Sherlock's order halting the execution of Ronald Allen Smith of Red Deer, Alberta.
Larson presides over the criminal case against Smith.
Sherlock presides over a civil case filed by Smith in 2008 alleging that Montana's method of lethal injection is unconstitutionally cruel and unusual.
Larson says in his request that he has exclusive jurisdiction to issue a stay. Sherlock has not responded to the filing.
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