FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) -- Attorney General Jack Conway requested Monday that execution dates be set for three convicted murderers on Kentucky's death row, including one whose case questioned the use of lethal injection nationwide.
Conway sent letters to Gov. Steve Beshear asking for execution dates for Ralph Baze Jr., Robert Foley and Gregory Wilson, whose appeals have been exhausted in state and federal courts.
"There are no remaining legal impediments to the finality of these death sentences," Conway said in a statement. "The horrific crimes these men committed have taken an enormous toll on the victims' families, for whom this may bring closure."
Baze was convicted of the 1992 murders of Powell County Sheriff Steve Bennett and Deputy Arthur Briscoe. A jury found that Baze gunned down the lawmen with an assault rifle when they attempted to arrest him on five felony charges.
Baze was the lead plaintiff in a case the U.S. Supreme Court used in 2008 to rule that the lethal injection protocol used by nearly three-dozen states did not amount to cruel and unusual punishment. He charged that state officials did not properly implement a new execution protocol in 2004.
Foley was convicted of the 1991 murders of brothers Rodney Vaughn and Lynn Vaughn in Laurel County. A jury found that Foley shot Rodney Vaughn six times at close range, then shot Lynn Vaughn execution-style in the back of the head.
Wilson was convicted of the 1987 kidnapping, rape and murder of Deborah Pooley in Kenton County.
Spokeswoman Kerri Richardson said the governor has received Conway's requests.
"The governor will carefully review each request and examine the legal status of each case before making any determination on execution dates," Richardson said.
Ed Monahan, head of the Kentucky Office of Public Advocacy, said all three of the inmates have litigation pending in either state or federal courts. He said he has sent a letter to Conway asking him to withdraw the requests and a letter to Beshear asking him not to sign any death warrants until after an independent review is conducted of the state's use of the death penalty.
"We want to make sure there are no unjust executions," Monahan said.
Kentucky has executed three people since 1976. Harold McQueen was electrocuted in 1997 for killing a convenience store clerk in 1981. Eddie Lee Harper died by lethal injection in 1999. Marco Allen Chapman also died by lethal injection in November.
Conway's call for execution dates came on the same day that a group of Kentucky lawyers asked for a moratorium on executions. Louisville attorney Jason Nemes, former head of the Administrative Office of the Courts and spokesman for the group, said no executions should be scheduled until after the American Bar Association evaluates the use of the death penalty in Kentucky.
Nemes said the American Bar Association already has appointed a team to conduct the evaluation, which would likely take about two years to complete.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
