South Carolina executes Richard Moore despite widely supported appeal to commute his life sentence

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) – South Carolina sentenced Richard Moore to death by lethal injection Friday for fatally shooting a grocery store clerk in 1999, despite a broad appeal for mercy from parties that included three jurors and a judge from his trial, former prison director, pastors and members of his family.

Moore, 59, was pronounced dead at 6:24 p.m

Moore was convicted of killing Spartanburg official James Mahoney in September 1999 and sentenced to death two years later. Moore entered the store unarmed, took the victim’s gun while it was pointed at him, and fatally shot him in the chest while the victim shot him in the shoulder with the other gun.

Moore’s lawyers asked Republican Gov. Henry McMaster to reduce his sentence to life in prison without parole because of his clean prison record and willingness to mentor other inmates. They also said it would be unfair to execute someone in what could be considered self-defense, and unfair that Moore, who was a black man, was the only state death row inmate sentenced by a jury that did not include African Americans .

But McMaster refused to grant a pardon. He did not give a reason in the letter, but said he had reviewed all documents presented by Moore’s lawyers and had spoken to the victim’s family.

No South Carolina governor has commuted the death penalty, and the state has carried out 45 executions since the U.S. Supreme Court allowed states to resume it nearly 50 years ago.

Unlike previous executions, when media witnesses arrived, the curtain of the death chamber was open. Moore’s last words were already read by Lindsey Vann, his lawyer of 10 years.

Moore had his eyes closed and his head facing the ceiling. A prison official announced that the execution could begin at 6:01 p.m. Over the next minute, Moore took several deep breaths that sounded like snoring. He then took several shallow breaths until around 6:04 when his breathing stopped. Moore showed no obvious signs of discomfort.

Vann cried when the employee announced that the execution could begin. She was clutching a prayer bracelet with a cross on it. The spiritual advisor sat next to her, hands on his knees, palms facing up.

Also present were two family members of the victims and attorney Barry Barnette, who was part of the prosecution team that convicted Moore. Everyone watched stoically.

Later, prison spokeswoman Chrysti Shain read his last words at a news conference.

“To the family of Mr. James Mahoney, I am deeply sorry for the pain and sadness I have caused you all,” he said. “To my children and grandchildren: I love you and I am very proud of you. Thank you for the joy you brought into my life. Thank you to all my family and friends, new and old, for their love and support.”

His last meal was medium-cooked steak, fried catfish and shrimp, au gratin, green peas, broccoli and cheese, sweet potato pie, German chocolate cake, and grape juice.

Three jurors who sentenced Moore to death in 2001, including the one he wrote Friday, sent letters asking McMaster to change the sentence to life in prison without parole. They were joined by Moore’s former state prison director, his trial judge, his son and daughter, a half-dozen childhood friends and several pastors.

They all said Moore, 59, was a changed man who loved God, loved his new grandchildren as best he could, helped guards stay calm and mentored other inmates after drug addiction clouded his judgment and led to shooting in which Mahoney, according to the clemency petition, died.

“He posed no threat to anyone, and the state has eliminated a shining example of reform and rehabilitation,” the law firm Justice 360, which represented Moore, said in a statement. “By killing Richard, the state also created more victims. Richard’s children now have no father, and his grandchildren will have to grow up without their bye.

Moore previously had two execution dates postponed as the state dealt with issues that had caused a 13-year hiatus on the death penalty, including companies’ refusal to sell lethal injection drugs to the state, an obstacle that was resolved through the passage of the Secrecy Act.

Moore is the second inmate executed in South Carolina since executions resumed. Four more are no longer subject to appeals and the state appears prepared to sentence them to death at five-week intervals throughout the spring. Currently, 30 people are on death row.

The governor said before the execution that he would carefully review everything Moore’s lawyers sent and, as he usually does, he would wait a few minutes before the execution began and announce his decision after being informed that all appeals had been completed.

“Graciousness is a matter of grace, a matter of mercy. There is no standard. There is no real law for this,” McMaster told reporters Thursday.

Prosecutors and Mahoney’s relatives did not comment publicly in the weeks leading up to or after the execution. In the past, family members have said they suffered greatly and wanted justice to be served.

Moore’s lawyers said his original lawyers failed to thoroughly analyze the crime scene and left undisputed prosecutors’ contention that Moore, who entered the store unarmed, shot at a customer and that his intention from the beginning was to rob him.

According to their accounts, the clerk pointed the gun at Moore after the two argued because he was 12 cents short of what he wanted to buy.

Moore said he grabbed the gun out of Mahoney’s hand and the clerk pulled out a second gun. Moore was shot in the arm and fired, striking Mahoney in the chest. Moore then went behind the counter and stole approximately $1,400.

Moore’s current attorneys say no other death row inmate in South Carolina has begun a crime without a weapon or the intent to kill.

Jon Ozmint, a former prosecutor who was director of the South Carolina Department of Corrections from 2003 to 2011 and who added his voice to those calling for clemency, said the Moore case was not the worst of the worst kinds of crimes that typically punish death.

There are plenty of people who were not sentenced to death but committed much more heinous crimes, Ozmint said, citing the example of Todd Kohlhepp, who was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to killing seven people, including a woman he raped and tortured for days . .

Lawyers for Moore, who is a black man, also said his trial was not fair. There were no African Americans on the jury, even though 20% of Spartanburg County residents were black.

“This execution highlights the flaws in South Carolina’s death penalty system. Who is executed and who is allowed to live out the rest of their lives in prison seems to depend solely on chance, race or status. It is unacceptable that our state imposes the maximum penalty in such a haphazard manner,” Justice 360 said.

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