Execution set for this week in Georgia put on hold for now

Key Highlights

• During a hearing on the clemency petition Monday afternoon, a lawyer for the parole board said she did not know how long the suspension would last.
• The death warrant is valid through noon on Dec.
• 24, meaning that if the execution doesn't happen by then the state will have to seek a new warrant. Kimberly McCoy, one of the board members whose recusal Humphreys' lawyers are seeking, was a victim advocate with the Cobb County district attorney's office at the time of Humphreys' trial and was assigned to work with the victims in the case.
• The other, Wayne Bennett, was the sheriff in Glynn County, where the trial was moved because of pretrial publicity, and Humphreys' lawyers argue he oversaw security for the jurors and Humphreys himself during the case. During Monday's court hearing, it was established that McCoy had agreed Sunday night to abstain from voting on the matter of Humphreys' clemency application.
• But it was not clear what that means, particularly whether or not she would be present and would participate during the discussion of the case. When Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney asked what McCoy understands it to mean if she abstains, McCoy told the judge she would do whatever the court directs her to do.