Lawyers seek stay of execution requested by inmate

Court Alerts

A confessed child killer who asked to be put to death shouldn't be executed because he may be incompetent, defense attorneys argued Monday in a motion before the Kentucky Supreme Court.

Marco Allen Chapman's execution was scheduled for Nov. 21 after the Kentucky Supreme Court upheld his sentence last week. Chapman, 36, would be the first inmate put to death in the state in nearly 10 years.

The defense attorneys filed two motions with the Supreme Court on Monday asking for a stay of execution, even though Chapman dismissed them in 2004 before pleading guilty and asking to be put to death.

The public defenders questioned Chapman's competency in one motion for a stay. In another, they argued that Chapman shouldn't be executed until appeals are exhausted in a separate case that questions the validity of Kentucky's execution protocol. That case is pending before the state Supreme Court.

Public defenders Donna Boyce, Randall Wheeler and Emily Rhorer wrote in one of the motions that Chapman "will suffer the most irreparable injury known to law" if the stay isn't granted. "He will be executed before it is determined whether his execution would be legal," they wrote.

Related listings

  • Court: Ga. sex offender law is unfair to homeless

    Court: Ga. sex offender law is unfair to homeless

    Court Alerts 10/27/2008

    Georgia's top court ruled Monday that a provision in Georgia's strict new sex offender law is unconstitutional because it fails to tell homeless offenders how they can comply with the law.The law is designed to keep sex offenders away from children b...

  • Wis. judicial panel: Punish new judge for false ad

    Wis. judicial panel: Punish new judge for false ad

    Court Alerts 10/08/2008

    State regulators say a Willie Horton-style campaign ad that suggested the first black member of the Wisconsin Supreme Court freed a child molester played so loose with the truth that the court's newest member should be disciplined for it.The Wisconsi...

  • Top court again rejects abortion poster case

    Top court again rejects abortion poster case

    Court Alerts 10/06/2008

    The Supreme Court has rejected for the third time an appeal by anti-abortion activists to undo a multimillion-dollar verdict for their use of "wanted" posters to identify abortion clinic doctors.The justices did not comment Monday in turning down a d...

Grounds for Divorce in Ohio - Sylkatis Law, LLC

A divorce in Ohio is filed when there is typically “fault” by one of the parties and party not at “fault” seeks to end the marriage. A court in Ohio may grant a divorce for the following reasons:
• Willful absence of the adverse party for one year
• Adultery
• Extreme cruelty
• Fraudulent contract
• Any gross neglect of duty
• Habitual drunkenness
• Imprisonment in a correctional institution at the time of filing the complaint
• Procurement of a divorce outside this state by the other party

Additionally, there are two “no-fault” basis for which a court may grant a divorce:
• When the parties have, without interruption for one year, lived separate and apart without cohabitation
• Incompatibility, unless denied by either party

However, whether or not the the court grants the divorce for “fault” or not, in Ohio the party not at “fault” will not get a bigger slice of the marital property.

Business News

New York & New Jersey Family Law Matters We represent our clients in all types of proceedings that include termination of parental rights. >> read