Kennedy stays Hill’s exectution

CNN report. Supreme Court stays Florida prisoner’s execution

WASHINGTON (CNN) — The Supreme Court ordered a rare, last-minute stay of execution Tuesday for a Florida man sentenced to die for the 1982 killing of a police officer.

Clarence Hill, 48, had been scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection Tuesday evening. But Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy temporarily stayed the procedure after Hill’s lawyers argued their client was mentally retarded and that the method of execution used in Florida violated the Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishments.

The Supreme Court barred the execution of mentally retarded prisoners in 2002.

Kennedy’s order included no immediate explanation for the decision. The justice could refer the case for a decision by the full court. Hill’s execution had been set for 6 p.m. at the Florida State Prison in Starke. His lawyers argued that the combination of chemicals the state uses to kill prisoners causes pain for the dying inmate. — From CNN Producer Bill Mears (Posted 7:48 p.m.)