Fletcher Signs Warrant for Sept. 25 Execution

Summary

---

FRANKFORT, Ky. - Gov. Ernie Fletcher signed a death warrant on Wednesday for an eastern Kentucky man convicted of murdering a sheriff and his deputy, generating a storm of criticism from capital punishment opponents who questioned the timing.

Fletcher, who is in the midst of a re-election campaign, set a Sept. 25 execution date - six weeks before the general election - for Ralph Stevens Baze. Baze, condemned to death in 1993 for killing Powell County Sheriff Steve Bennett and Deputy Arthur Briscoe, would be the first death row inmate executed in the state since 1999.

See the full content of this document

Extract

---

Fletcher Signs Warrant for Sept. 25 Execution

Critics said they were alarmed that Fletcher, Kentucky's first Republican gov...

See the full content of this document

---