USA - Texas. The United States Supreme Court today granted a stay of execution to Cleve Foster, 47, white

The United States Supreme Court today granted a temporary stay of execution to Cleve Foster, 47, white. It was the second time this year (see Jan. 11 and 18) that Mr. Foster, who had been scheduled to be executed Tuesday evening, had been spared by the court hours before his appointed death. The reprieve for Mr. Foster, will remain in place while the court examines whether he received effective counsel during the course of his case and considers questions about his conviction raised by his current lawyers. The Supreme Court denied Mr. Foster’s appeal in January but agreed to reconsider on Tuesday morning. In state court, Mr. Foster’s lawyers are also challenging the legality of his execution based on one of the drugs that is to be used in the lethal injection. Lawyers for Mr. Foster, a Persian Gulf war veteran, say he also got a substandard defense when he was convicted in 2004 of killing the woman, Nyanuer Pal, a 28-year-old Sudanese immigrant. Mr. Foster’s roommate, Sheldon Ward, was convicted of shooting Ms. Pal, but prosecutors said Mr. Foster had aided him. Both received death sentences. Mr. Ward died of cancer in prison last year.