Private Ronald Gray is led away from a Fort Bragg, N.C. courtroom in 1988

USA: EXECUTION STAY FOR RONALD GRAY

November 26, 2008: The federal Judge Richard Rogers has issued a stay in Ronald Gray’s execution, that should have taken place on the 10th December.
Former soldier Gray, 43, was convicted and sentenced to death in 1988.
The case caused a sensation because it would have been the military’s first execution since 1961: at that time private John Bennett was hanged after President Eisenhower had approved the execution.
Till then only other 9 members of the military had been executed since the Uniform Code of Military was enacted in 1951.
Gray’s execution stay has been approved in order to give him more time to file an appeal against his conviction. Gray’s attorney, Thomas Bath, had requested the Judge to examine again the case, arguing that  two changes in the military code should be applied to his case: since Gray's conviction and sentencing, the number of jurors hearing military trials has increased from 6 to 12; also, military courts now must allow defendants to present mitigating evidence during sentencing hearings.
US Supreme Court had rejected the appeal in 2001 because the sentence hadn’t been approved by the President of USA.
The signing of the sentence by President Bush on 29th July 2008 has started the clock for a further appeal, whose date hasn’t been set yet. Along with Gray, other 8 men are detained in military’s death row. (Sources: Ap, 02/12/2008)