Court won't revive death sentence for South Carolina inmate
The Supreme Court has rejected a plea from South Carolina to reimpose the death penalty on a South Carolina inmate whose death sentence stood for two decades until a federal appeals court threw it out in August
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a plea from South Carolina to reimpose the death penalty on a South Carolina inmate whose death sentence stood for two decades until a federal appeals court threw it out in August.
Chief Justice John Roberts did not comment in denying the state's request to stop the clock on a lower court order in favor of inmate Sammie Lee Stokes. The order requires the state to conduct a new sentencing hearing for Stokes, if it wants jurors to again sentence him to death. Otherwise, Stokes will spend the rest of his life in prison.
He was sentenced to death in 1999 for the rape and murder of 21-year-old Connie Snipes in Orangeburg County.
Evidence at the trial showed he was paid $2,000 by the victim’s mother-in-law, who planned to take custody of her grandchildren once Snipes was dead.
Stokes' guilt is not at issue. Instead, a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Stokes deserved a new sentencing hearing because two of his previous defense attorneys failed to present evidence of his traumatic past.
Stokes suffered physical and sexual abuse at a young age, his parents were “serious alcoholics” and Stokes and his sister would skip school to steal food from the neighbors in order to eat, Judge Roger Gregory wrote.
Both parents died in front of him before he turned 14, and Stokes began abusing alcohol and drugs, in addition to dropping out of school, Gregory wrote.
South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson urged the justices to step in, writing that the appeals court engaged in inappropriate second-guessing of lower-court decisions long after the crime and several rounds of court proceedings.