USA - Texas. Stay of Execution for John Hummel in Response to Coronavirus Crisis.

Texas Court Issues 60-Day Stay of Execution for John Hummel in Response to Coronavirus Crisis. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has temporarily halted the execution of John Hummel. In an order issued on March 16, 2020, the TCCA stayed Hummel’s execution, which had been scheduled for March 18, for 60 days, saying the delay was necessary “in light of the current health crisis and the enormous resources needed to address that emergency.” Hummel’s attorney had asked for the stay, arguing that the health crisis has impeded last-minute investigations in the case, and that bringing execution witnesses into the prison would put vulnerable people, especially prisoners, at risk of contracting the virus. On June 28, 2011, a Tarrant County jury sentenced Hummel, now 44, White, to death after he pleaded guilty to the Dec. 17, 2009, fatal beating and stabbing of his pregnant wife, Joy, 34; and the beating to death of his disabled father-in-law, Clyde "Eddie" Bedford, 57, and his 5-year-old daughter, Jodi, with a baseball bat. Three other executions are scheduled in Texas in the next 60 days, but it is not yet clear what action the court will take on those cases.