Condemned Ky. inmate wants to end all appeals
Lawyer Blogs
A Kentucky inmate who has pushed to swiftly be put to death for killing two children said Tuesday he's mentally prepared to die but fears a legal fight could delay his execution.
"I believe it's finally going to be over. I'm getting myself prepared to be done and get it over with," Marco Allen Chapman told The Associated Press.
Defense attorneys this week asked the state Supreme Court to stay the 36-year-old's execution, set for Nov. 21. Even though Chapman dismissed his lawyers in 2004 before pleading guilty to murder, public defenders have continued to file motions on his behalf, questioning his competency.
Attorneys have also filed motions arguing that he shouldn't be put to death until appeals are exhausted in a separate case questioning Kentucky's execution protocol. That case is pending before the state Supreme Court.
Chapman has been found competent three times. He has sued public defenders, seeking an order to stop them from filing additional appeals. He says he wants to be executed for murdering 6-year-old Cody Sharon and 7-year-old Chelbi Sharon in the northern Kentucky town of Warsaw in August 2002.
The Kentucky Attorney General's office asked the state's high court on Tuesday to call off any more competency tests and allow Chapman to be executed.
If the lethal injection goes forward, he would become the first Kentucky inmate put to death since 1999.
Chapman remains hopeful that the court proceedings are swiftly concluded and says he's sorting through what could be the final details of his life.
"We're still working on things, like what to do with my remains," Chapman said.
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