The South Carolina Supreme Court has allowed a man to be executed for more than two decades after the Correctional Facility said last month that it had completed the renovation of the death chamber to prepare for executions with an executive order. An official from the State Supreme Court has set an execution date of April 29 for 57-year-old Richard Bernard, who was convicted in 2001 of the murder of a convenience store employee in 1999. Richard Bernard Moore has been sentenced to death for more than 2 decades. (Justice 360 ​​via AP) By law, Moore will be asked to choose his method of execution – either the electric chair or the firing squad – 2 weeks before the day of execution, according to the South Carolina Department of Correctional Rights (SCDC).
Last year, state lawmakers amended the death penalty law to work around a 10-year moratorium on executions, attributed to the SCDC’s inability to procure lethal injectable drugs. The new law made the electric chair the state’s main means of execution, while allowing detainees to choose their preferred method of execution – if these methods are available. FEDS ARRESTED LOUISVIL RELEASED FROM PRISON BY BLM FUND AFTER ATTEMPT TO LIVE MAYOR’S CANDIDATE The SCDC informed state officials last month that it had completed the development of executive execution protocols and completed $ 53,600 in the death chamber at Columbia Capital Punishment Facility. South Carolina is one of eight states that continue to use the electric chair and one of four that allow a shooting squad, according to the Washington-based nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center. A photograph by Richard Bernard Moore. (South Carolina Department of Corrections) Moore exhausted his federal appeals in 2020 and the state Supreme Court rejected another appeal this week. Moore’s lawyer, Lindsey Vann, said Thursday she would ask the court to suspend the execution. Last month, Van said South Carolina would join groups such as China, Iran and North Korea if the executions were allowed to proceed with an executive order.
“With the passage of the executive order, South Carolina has gone to extremes, returning to a method of execution that had previously been abandoned by most jurisdictions as barbaric,” he said. Moore was sentenced to death in 2001 after being convicted of murder, assault with intent to kill, armed robbery and shooting.
Prosecutors said Moore entered a Spartanburg convenience store in September 1999 seeking money to support cocaine use and got into a fight with a store clerk who pulled a pistol that Moore fired at him. DC MEN CONSIDERED CONSIDERED AS FEDERAL AGENTS UNDER CONTROL FOR POSSIBLE LINKS The officer, James Mahoney, pulled out a second gun and a fight ensued. Mahoney shot Moore in the arm and Moore shot Mahoney in the chest. Prosecutors said Moore left a trail of blood in the store as he searched for cash, passing Mahoney twice. At the time, Moore claimed he was acting in self-defense after Mahoney pulled out his first weapon. Moore’s supporters have argued that his crime does not reach the level of the death penalty in other states. Appeals attorneys told him that because Moore did not bring a gun to the store, he could not have intended to kill anyone when he entered. This September 21, 2010 file photo shows the inside of a lethal injection facility at San Quentin State Prison in San Quentin, California (AP) The last execution in South Carolina took place in 2011 and her batch of lethal injectable drugs expired two years later. There are 35 men sentenced to death in South Carolina. CLICK HERE TO RECEIVE THE FOX NEWS APPLICATION Support for the death penalty has been significantly reduced. Last year, the states and the federal government carried out 11 executions – the fewest since 1988. The Associated Press contributed to this report.