If Obama had a son - he might have looked like Domineque Ray...
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Alabama death row inmate Domineque Ray died by lethal injection Thursday evening.
Prison officials recorded his time of death as 10:12 p.m.
Ray was executed after an 11th-hour ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court vacated a stay of execution pending a religious rights claim. Ray, a Muslim, had argued Alabama's practice of including a Christian prison chaplain in the execution chamber was in violation of the First Amendment. Ray sought to have his imam present in the death chamber at the time of his death.
Imam Yusef Maisonet, Ray's spiritual adviser, witnessed Ray's execution from an adjoining chamber, which held media and prison officials. Two lawyers accompanied Maisonet.
When the curtain opened at 9:44 p.m., Ray lifted his head from the gurney, looking into the witness room. With his right hand in a fist, he extended a pointer finger.
Maisonet appeared to mirror the gesture and murmured that it was an acknowledgement of the singular God of the Islamic faith. When asked if he had any final words, Ray gave a brief faith declaration in Arabic.
Domineque Hakim Marcelle Ray, an Alabama death row inmate, is challenging the state on religious grounds after prison officials denied his Muslim spiritual advisor access to the execution chamber. (Photo: ADOC)
At 9:48, Ray made a fist with his left hand, raising his head slightly to look at his arm. His left arm shook briefly, before his eyes closed a minute later.
When the curtains to the witness chamber were drawn at 10:05 p.m., Ray's right pointer finger remained extended.
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals had previously stayed the execution, writing that there was a possibility Alabama had "run afoul" of the religious freedom clause of the First Amendment.
The U.S. Supreme Court voted 5-4 to vacate the stay "because Ray waited until Jan. 28, 2019, to seek relief."
Justices Elena Kagan, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor dissented to the ruling.
"Here, Ray has put forward a powerful claim that his religious rights will be violated at the moment the State puts him to death," Kagan wrote in her dissent. "The Eleventh Circuit wanted to hear that claim in full. Instead, this Court short-circuits that ordinary process — and itself rejects the claim with little briefing and no argument — just so the State can meet its preferred execution date."
Ray was sentenced to death for the 1995 rape and fatal stabbing of 15-year-old Tiffany Harville of Selma. Months before his death penalty trial, he was sentenced to life for a 1994 slaying of two teen brothers.
Ray was implicated in the crime after another man, Marcus Owden, confessed to his role in Harville's kidnapping. Owden testified in a 1999 trial that Ray cut Harville's throat. Owden is serving a life sentence without parole.
The Supreme Court denied a second stay appeal on Thursday night, in which attorneys said Ray's original defense team wasn't informed that Owden suffered from schizophrenia and potential delusions at the time of his trial.
https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.co...mineque-ray-for-1995-selma-murder/2809226002/
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Alabama death row inmate Domineque Ray died by lethal injection Thursday evening.
Prison officials recorded his time of death as 10:12 p.m.
Ray was executed after an 11th-hour ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court vacated a stay of execution pending a religious rights claim. Ray, a Muslim, had argued Alabama's practice of including a Christian prison chaplain in the execution chamber was in violation of the First Amendment. Ray sought to have his imam present in the death chamber at the time of his death.
Imam Yusef Maisonet, Ray's spiritual adviser, witnessed Ray's execution from an adjoining chamber, which held media and prison officials. Two lawyers accompanied Maisonet.
When the curtain opened at 9:44 p.m., Ray lifted his head from the gurney, looking into the witness room. With his right hand in a fist, he extended a pointer finger.
Maisonet appeared to mirror the gesture and murmured that it was an acknowledgement of the singular God of the Islamic faith. When asked if he had any final words, Ray gave a brief faith declaration in Arabic.
Domineque Hakim Marcelle Ray, an Alabama death row inmate, is challenging the state on religious grounds after prison officials denied his Muslim spiritual advisor access to the execution chamber. (Photo: ADOC)
At 9:48, Ray made a fist with his left hand, raising his head slightly to look at his arm. His left arm shook briefly, before his eyes closed a minute later.
When the curtains to the witness chamber were drawn at 10:05 p.m., Ray's right pointer finger remained extended.
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals had previously stayed the execution, writing that there was a possibility Alabama had "run afoul" of the religious freedom clause of the First Amendment.
The U.S. Supreme Court voted 5-4 to vacate the stay "because Ray waited until Jan. 28, 2019, to seek relief."
Justices Elena Kagan, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor dissented to the ruling.
"Here, Ray has put forward a powerful claim that his religious rights will be violated at the moment the State puts him to death," Kagan wrote in her dissent. "The Eleventh Circuit wanted to hear that claim in full. Instead, this Court short-circuits that ordinary process — and itself rejects the claim with little briefing and no argument — just so the State can meet its preferred execution date."
Ray was sentenced to death for the 1995 rape and fatal stabbing of 15-year-old Tiffany Harville of Selma. Months before his death penalty trial, he was sentenced to life for a 1994 slaying of two teen brothers.
Ray was implicated in the crime after another man, Marcus Owden, confessed to his role in Harville's kidnapping. Owden testified in a 1999 trial that Ray cut Harville's throat. Owden is serving a life sentence without parole.
The Supreme Court denied a second stay appeal on Thursday night, in which attorneys said Ray's original defense team wasn't informed that Owden suffered from schizophrenia and potential delusions at the time of his trial.
https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.co...mineque-ray-for-1995-selma-murder/2809226002/
