Attorneys for death row inmate Jack Greene on Monday filed a formal request with the Arkansas Supreme Court to stay his Thursday execution, as they work to have the condemned murderer declared insane.
The lawyers, working for the federal public defender's office in Little Rock, had said they would appeal a lower court judge's decision last week to dismiss Greene's bid for a new mental health examination. They requested the stay to allow them to work on that appeal, which would stretch into next year. The Supreme Court issued no decision on the motion as of late Monday.
Attorney General Leslie Rutledge's office will oppose the request for the stay, a spokesman said, and push to go forward as planned with the execution.
Greene was convicted in the 1991 slaying of Sidney Burnett, a Johnson County minister.
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In their petition, Greene's attorneys allege that the inmate's compulsive behavior and ramblings of a conspiracy against him is proof that he is delusional to the point that executing him would be unconstitutional.
The behavior described in the petition was on display for reporters at a recent court hearing in Pine Bluff, where Greene appeared with tissues stuffed in his ears and nose, and he complained of the destruction of his central nervous system.
"The doctors who have recently examined Greene have found that he is delusional about his injuries, delusional about the conspiracy to harm him, and unable to rationally comprehend his execution in light of these delusions," the petition states, referring to examinations by two doctors, most recently in 2011.
State law gives the director of the Department of Correction the authority to determine if a condemned prisoner is incompetent to understand his punishment. Greene's attorneys argue that the law is an unconstitutional violation of the separation of powers in Arkansas' government.
So far, prisons director Wendy Kelley has found Greene competent. Gov. Asa Hutchinson told reporters last week he also was not buying Greene's claims.
In April, the Arkansas justices stayed the execution of Bruce Earl Ward, another condemned man who claimed insanity.
Barring a stay, Greene's execution is set to begin at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Cummins prison.
Metro on 11/07/2017