A South Carolina inmate scheduled to be executed in just over three weeks is asking a federal judge to take away the power of granting clemency from the governor who is a former state attorney general and place it with a parole board, The Associated Press reports. The South Carolina constitution gives the governor the sole right to spare an inmate’s life, and Gov. Henry McMaster’s lawyers said he intends to retain it. But lawyers for Richard Moore argue that McMaster cannot fairly consider the inmate’s request to reduce his death sentence to life without parole because for eight years starting in 2003, he was the state’s lead prosecutor and oversaw attorneys who successfully fought to uphold Moore’s death sentence. “For Moore to receive clemency, McMaster would have to renounce years of his own work and that of his former colleagues in the Office of the Attorney General,” the attorneys wrote in asking a federal judge to pause the execution until the matter can be fully resolved.
Governor McMaster, known for tough-on-crime stances and opposition to parole, previously stated he would not commute Richard Moore’s sentence. Lawyers for McMaster said he has made no decision on whether to grant Moore clemency, and courts have repeatedly said attorneys general who become governors do not give up their rights to decide whether to set aside death sentences. A federal hearing on Moore’s clemency request is set for Tuesday. Moore, 59, faces the death penalty for the 1999 shooting of store clerk James Mahoney during a robbery in Spartanburg County. After a shootout, Mahoney was killed, and evidence showed that Moore left his blood on Mahoney while stealing from the register. Moore has until October 18 to choose his execution method, which would be the second in South Carolina after a 13-year pause due to the state not being able to obtain a drug needed for lethal injection. No South Carolina governor has granted clemency in the modern era. McMaster said he reviews each case thoroughly and plans to announce clemency decisions just before an execution, considering last-minute appeals.
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