Execution Report: Kimberly McCarthy

Continued from Page 1

A new jury convicted McCarthy in October 2002 and re-sentenced her to death. In her appeals, she argued that her attorney, who succeeded in having her first conviction overturned on the basis of the inadmissible confession, rendered ineffective assistance at her second trial by not introducing that same confession as evidence. The Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed her new conviction and sentence in September 2004. All of her subsequent appeals in state and federal court were denied.

McCarthy's execution had been scheduled for January, but her lawyer won a stay of execution so that he could present his claim that racial bias was used in the selection of her jury. The execution was rescheduled for April after the court heard and denied the claim. McCarthy then won another stay because the Texas legislature was in session and was considering bills that could have impacted her case.

McCarthy declined to speak with reporters while on death row.

Though many condemned prisoners address their crime in their last statements, either to express remorse or assert their innocence, McCarthy did not. "This is not a loss. This is a win," she said. "You know where i'm going. I'm going to be home with Jesus. Keep the faith. I love you all." The lethal injection was then started. She was pronounced dead at 6:37 p.m.

McCarthy was the 500th person, but only the fourth woman, executed in Texas since 1982, when the death penalty resumed after an 18-year hiatus. 261 of those executions have occurred since 2001, during Rick Perry's tenure as governor. The last woman executed in the state was Frances Newton in 2005.

By David Carson. Posted on 27 June 2013.
Sources: Texas Attorney General's office, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, court documents, Associated Press, Dallas Morning News.