Georgia completes execution after courts reject array of final appeals

As reported in this local article, "Scotty Morrow [with a]ppeals exhausted, clemency denied, ... at 9:38 p.m. .. became the first person executed by the state of Georgia this year."  Here is more about his crime and filed appeals: 

The father of two and grandfather of four said in his petition for clemency that he thought every day about what happened on Dec. 29, 1994.  Spurned over the phone by his ex-girlfriend, Barbara Ann Young, Morrow drove to her house and fatally shot her and her friend, Tonya Woods.  He shot a third woman in the face and arm but she survived. The murders were witnessed by Young’s 5-year-old son....

Morrow is the 73rd person executed by the state since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, and the 50th by lethal injection. “Tonight, justice was carried out for the families of Tonya Woods and Barbara Ann Young and the injured LaToya Horne,” said Hall County District Attorney Lee Darragh, who witnessed the execution.

The U.S. Supreme Court had denied Morrow's final appeal to stay the execution at about 9 p.m. Thursday, two and a half hours after his defense team petitioned the nation's highest court.

Morrow was denied clemency Wednesday by the state Board of Pardons and Paroles. His attorneys argued that unplanned crimes of passion, such as the ones Morrow was convicted of, are rarely punished by death. They also pointed out that jurors in Morrow’s murder trial heard little about his traumatic childhood....

A state court judge overturned Morrow’s sentence in 2011, saying that his lawyers had not afforded him proper representation. A new trial was ordered, but the Georgia Supreme Court later reversed that decision and reinstated the death sentence.

On Tuesday, a Butts County judge dismissed a petition claiming Morrow’s death sentence was unconstitutional because it was improperly imposed. Lawyers for the Gainesville man said the judge in Morrow’s criminal trial decided which of the two murders he committed warranted the death penalty, a decision they said the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled must be made by jurors.  The Butts County judge on Wednesday agreed with attorneys for the state that those claims had already been rejected by higher courts. On Thursday, the state Supreme Court agreed in a unanimous decision. The court described Morrow’s appeal “as lacking in arguable merit” and it also denied a request from his lawyers for a stay of execution....

Prison officials testified Morrow was a model inmate who sought redemption for his crimes. His son and namesake said he was a positive influence on his four grandchildren.  Counselors told the parole board he had been fully rehabilitated. But the parole board was unswayed, denying Morrow’s last, best chance at survival.