Texas postpones a sixth execution due to coronavirus

As reported in this new AP piece, a "sixth scheduled execution of a Texas death row inmate has been delayed following the coronavirus spread around the state."  Here is more:

Edward Lee Busby’s execution had been set for May 6, but it was stayed for 60 days by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Monday.

Busby, 47, was condemned for the 2004 suffocation of a retired 77-year-old college professor abducted in Fort Worth and whose body was later recovered in Oklahoma.

While the appeals court didn’t mention COVID-19 in its order, Busby’s attorneys had argued the execution should be delayed because they and others, including judges and personnel who carry out the execution, could be put at risk for getting the virus if it proceeded.

Three other executions that had been scheduled this year were also delayed by the appeals court while two others were delayed by local judges.

The next execution scheduled in the Lone Star State is slated for May 13 according to this Death Penalty Information Center listing. Given that Texas is opening a lot of facilities by the end of this week, it will be interest to see if the state tries to get its machinery of death operational by the middle of May.

Some prior related capital COVID posts:

• "Appeals Court Delays Texas Execution Due To Coronavirus Outbreak" 
• Texas Court of Appeals stays a second execution for 60 days due to COVID-19 
• "How Coronavirus is Disrupting the Death Penalty" 
• Might COVID-19 ultimately bring an end to the death penalty in the United States?
• Yet another Texas execution postponed due to coronavirus
• As Ohio and Tennessee delay more executions, might "incremental reopening" in Texas lead to resumption of lethal injections?