Supreme Court to rule on Hallford execution stay

"It's taken way too long to go through the courts," said Alabama Assistant Attorney General Gary Crenshaw. "It's time for justice to be carried out."

The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule within two weeks on whether 61-year-old Phillip Hallford of Daleville will die March 19.

Hallford has been on death row at Holman Correctional Facility for 22 years for the murder of Charles Eddie Shannon, who was killed April 13, 1986. Shannon was shot three times in the head and his body tossed into the Choctawhatchee River.

"It's taken way too long to go through the courts," said Alabama Assistant Attorney General Gary Crenshaw. "It's time for justice to be carried out."

Crenshaw on Monday filed a petition with the Supreme Court to remove an 11th Circuit Court of Appeals order halting Hallford's execution, which the Supreme Court in December had set for March 19. The 11th Circuit last week denied a previous Attorney General's office request to lift the block.

The 11th Circuit Court also set a hearing for March 31 on Hallford's civil rights lawsuit challenging lethal injection as an execution method. The appeal was filed by Hallford's defense attorneys after a federal district judge dismissed the lawsuit, saying it had been improperly filed.

Crenshaw said the Supreme Court will rule before March 19 on the AG request to continue with the execution.

He said all of Hallford's previous appeals on his 1987 murder conviction have been dismissed, and the civil rights lawsuit regarding the legality of lethal injection is one of several filed by death row inmates.

In February Danny Joe Bradley, who had been on death row for more than 26 years, was executed by lethal injection after the Supreme Court turned down his appeal in a similar civil rights case.

Crenshaw said the Supreme Court has, in Alabama and other states, upheld lethal injection procedures.

In 2002, by legislative act, lethal injection was established as the primary method of execution in Alabama, unless the condemned person elects to be electrocuted.

Hallford was 39 years old when he was arrestedfor Shannon's murder. According to court documents, Hallford forced his daughter to lure her boyfrield to a secluded bridge just outside of Daleville, where he shot Shannon once in the roof of the mouth.

While Shannon was still alive, Hallford dragged him to the side of the bridge, shot him two more times and threw the body over the bridge railing into the water.

Court documents said Hallford returned to the scene later to remove blood from the bridge and he burned Shannon's wallet and its contents.

Hallford's daughter was a key witness in the murder trial in 1987. She described in graphic detail, according to court records, how Shannon's death took place and also testified that she and her father had an incestuous relationship for a number of years.

During his trial, Hallford maintained his innocence, saying he was nowhere near the bridge when Shannon was killed.