High Court Refuses To Stop Execution
HUNTSVILLE (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to halt the scheduled execution of a man convicted of killing three members of a Corpus Christi family.
The high court, on a 5-4 vote, rejected arguments from attorneys for Jose Villegas who said the 39-year-old is mentally impaired and ineligible for the death penalty.
The ruling came Wednesday about 30 minutes after a six-hour window opened for Villegas' lethal injection for the fatal stabbings 13 years ago of his ex-girlfriend, her 3-year-old son and her mother.
Villegas' lawyers contended testing in February showed he had an IQ of 59, below the IQ of 70 that courts have embraced as a threshold for mental impairment. State attorneys disputed the test result and called it a late attempt to delay the punishment.
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