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A federal judge has delayed the execution of the only woman sentenced to death in the United States.
Lisa Montgomery was convicted of strangling an eight-month pregnant woman in 2004 and cutting her baby with a kitchen knife.
The girl survived the attack and prosecutors said Montgomery took the girl and tried to pass her off as his own.
Montgomery killed Bobbie Jo Stinnett, 23, in Skidmore, Missouri, in December 2004.
Montgomery’s attorneys say he suffers from a serious mental illness after years of physical and mental abuse.
It was to be executed by lethal injection into Indiana this month, but Judge Randolph Moss delayed it after his attorneys captured coronavirus and asked for more time to file a petition for clemency.
The judge has now reversed an order from the director of the Bureau of Prisons that set another execution date for January 12.
He said it was not done “in accordance with the law” because a stay of execution was in effect when the decision was made.
The Bureau of Prisons is now prohibited from setting a new date for the 52-year-old man’s execution until at least January 1, and an inmate must generally receive a 20-day notice.
The possibility of the execution being scheduled for later is raised Joe bidentakes office as president on January 20.
Biden opposes the death penalty and a spokesman has said he would try to eliminate it when he takes office.
However, it is not known whether Biden will stop all executions when he comes to power.
The execution may be rescheduled after the inauguration of Joe Biden, who opposes the death penalty.
President Donald trumpThe administration resumed federal executions after a 17-year hiatus in July and has since carried out 10 death sentences, including two in early December.
It has executed more people in one year than any other administration in more than 130 years.
In a statement, one of Montgomery’s attorneys, Sandra Babcock, said: “Given the severity of Ms. Montgomery’s mental illness, the physical and sexual torture she suffered throughout her life, and the connection between her trauma and the facts of his crime, we appeal to President Trump to grant him mercy and commute his sentence to life in prison. “
Two other federal inmates are also scheduled to be executed next month, but they tested positive for coronavirus, prompting their legal teams to seek a stay of execution as well.
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