A federal judge in Indiana halted what would have been the first federal execution of a female inmate in 67 years.
Judge Patrick Hanlon of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana granted a stay late Monday on the grounds that Lisa Montgomery’s “mental competence” needed to be evaluated. More than 1,000 advocates have written letters to government officials asking for Montgomery’s execution to be halted, citing Montgomery’s history of mental illness, being abused, and her experience being sexually trafficked as a child.
Montgomery was found guilty of strangling a pregnant woman from Missouri in 2004 and claiming her unborn baby, who survived, as her own. The last woman to be executed by the federal government was Bonnie Heady, who, along with her husband, pleaded guilty to murdering a child they kidnapped for a $600,000 ransom.
Montgomery’s attorneys sought to delay the execution in November after they both tested positive for the coronavirus. They argued that because of Montgomery’s “several mental disabilities that frequently cause her to lose touch with reality … it is vital that counsel be able to meet with Mrs. Montgomery in person to evaluate her mental status.”
The attorneys were granted a delay, and in December, U.S. District Court Judge Randolph Moss blocked the Bureau of Prisons from rescheduling Montgomery’s execution until at least Jan. 1. Because Justice Department Guidelines require that an inmate must be notified at least 20 days before his or her scheduled execution, Montgomery’s execution would likely have been rescheduled for the early days of President-elect Joe Biden’s administration, based on Moss’s ruling.
Biden opposes the death penalty and has said he will work to end it during his time in office.
On Jan. 1, Moss’s ruling was vacated by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals, which allowed for her execution to be rescheduled for Jan. 12 — until Hanlon halted the execution.
“As discussed elsewhere in this order, Ms. Montgomery has been diagnosed with physical brain impairments and multiple mental illnesses,” Hanlon wrote, according to the Topeka Capital-Journal. “Three experts are of the opinion that, based on conduct and symptoms reported to them by counsel, Ms. Montgomery’s perception of reality is currently distorted and impaired.”
Hanlon did not specify when the mental evaluation would be scheduled, writing that it would take place “in due course.”
