Ga. high court grants another stay of execution

Curtis Osborne had been set to die Tuesday

By BILL RANKINThe Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionPublished on: 10/22/07

The Georgia Supreme Court on Monday temporarily blocked the pending execution of a man convicted for a double murder in Spalding County in 2001.

For the second time in less than a week, the state high court issued a stay of an execution, this time for Curtis Osborne who was scheduled to be put to death Tuesday by lethal injection.
In its order, the state Supreme Court noted that the U.S. Supreme Court is now considering appeals by two condemned inmates in Kentucky on the issue of lethal injection. The order also cited the U.S. Supreme Court's decision last week to stay an execution in Virginia in which lethal injection was also challenged.

Last Thursday, the state Supreme Court issued a stay of the scheduled execution of Jack Alderman, who killed his wife in Chatham County 33 years ago. Alderman had also challenged the constitutionality of lethal injection.