Court denies appeal, legal options dwindle for Mississippi death row prisoner
BILOXI, Miss. (WLOX) - Legal options appear to be running out for Mississippi’s longest-serving death row inmate, Richard Gerald Jordan.
On Tuesday, June 24, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals denied an appeal of U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate’s decision to allow Jordan’s execution to go forward.
“After numerous legal challenges, Richard Jordan now faces execution for a brutal kidnapping and murder he committed nearly 50 years ago. Four days ago, the district court denied Jordan’s motion for a preliminary injunction. We affirm,” the court stated in its latest ruling.
That appeal was filed after Judge Wingate handed down his ruling on Friday, June 20. Jordan had asked the federal judge to block his execution due to the state’s current lethal injection protocol.
In his ruling, Judge Wingate did include a caveat in the order, in case the first drug used in the state’s three-drug protocol does not render Jordan unconscious.
The state uses three drugs in its execution process. The first drug is Midazolam. Officials are expected to administer a 500 mg dose to render the prisoner unconscious.
If that drug does not work, Wingate ordered Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner Burl Cain to contact the court before determining how to proceed.
DEEP DIVE: Justice Delayed: The prosecution, defense & execution of Richard Gerald Jordan
Jordan was sentenced to death for the kidnapping and killing of Edwina Marter in 1976 in Harrison County.
Despite confessing to the murder, Jordan has been granted a retrial four times. He was convicted and received the death sentence each time.
Jordan, now 79, is set to be executed on Wednesday, June 25. He has one petition remaining with the U.S. Supreme Court as of Tuesday afternoon. Jordan is also waiting on a decision from Gov. Tate Reeves on whether he will grant clemency.
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