31 October 2007 :
the US Supreme Court halted an execution in Mississippi, less than an hour before the convicted killer was scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection.The last-minute reprieve for Earl Wesley Berry is the third granted by the justices since they agreed late last month to decide a challenge to Kentucky's lethal injection procedures. The order was the latest indication that most, if not all, executions by lethal execution will be halted at least until the justices decide the Kentucky case.
The decision brought an emotional response from about two dozen members of the victim's family, who called a news conference to express their outrage. Mary Bounds, 56, was kidnapped from a church and killed by Berry in 1987.
(Sources: Associated Press, 31/10/2007)