04 May 2022 :
Missouri
Carman Deck was executed by lethal injection in Bonne Terre on Maiy 3.
Deck, now 56, White, was accused of robbing and fatally shooting James and Zelma Long on July 8,1996. Police said he confessed to the killings, but Deck's defense argued at trial it was a false confession. He was first sentenced to death on April 27, 1998. Deck's first conviction was overturned on appeal due to an error in jury instructions. He was sentenced to death a second time, but it was overturned by the US Supreme Court, which said Deck being shackled in court during the sentencing phase may have influenced the jury.
A third jury returned death verdicts on November 7, 2008, but a federal judge vacated the sentence, agreeing with Deck's defense there was not enough evidence in the third penalty phase to warrant a death sentence.
In 2020, a federal appeals court ruled the judge's decision to be in error and reinstated the death sentence. Further appeals to the US Supreme Court were denied.
Deck was pronounced dead at 6:10 p.m. CT.
On the Deck case see also HoC 26/02/2002, 03/05/2003, 30/06/2003, 30/08/2005, 08/11/2008, 13/04/2017, 20/10/2020.
Deck is the 5th inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 1,545th overall since the nation resumed executions on January 17, 1977. Deck becomes the 1st condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Missouri and the 92nd overall since the state resumed capital punishment in 1989.
