Last-minute reprieve for Death Row prisoner

The man scheduled to be the 300th Death Row prisoner put to death in Texas since capital punishment was reintroduced won a last-minute reprieve from the Supreme Court after three former federal judges intervened and questioned the safety of the original conviction.

Delma Banks Jnr had eaten a final meal – of cheeseburgers – on Wednesday and was about to be strapped to a stretcher for his execution by lethal injection when word came through that the Supreme Court had issued a stay of execution.

His family burst into tears with relief, and the prisoner was escorted back from the execution chamber in Huntsville to the Death Row unit in Livingston, 40 miles away.

Banks has always asserted his innocence in the killing of a co-worker in the east Texas town of Nash 23 years ago, blaming his conviction on racism – he is black – poor legal representation and the testimony of two drug addicts offered tempting deals by the prosecution.

The Supreme Court will now decide whether there is a just cause to hear his case again. If it does not, then his execution will most probably go ahead again in four weeks.