SC Gov. McMaster says he won’t commute Richard Moore’s death sentence

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster said Wednesday that convicted killer Richard Moore should not expect any mercy from him in the form of a reprieve.

“I have no intention to commute a sentence,” McMaster told reporters Wednesday outside of the governor’s mansion, minutes after the state’s highest court issued a temporary stay of Richard Moore’s April 29 execution by firing squad.

“The jury made their decision in this particular case,” McMaster continued. “I’ve seen the record, and there have been many hearings up and down, motions, and this penalty is a very strong response to criminal activity — but it is a necessary response.”

The state Supreme Court on Wednesday issued a temporary stay in Moore’s case to consider issues raised by his lawyers, including whether the electric chair and the firing squad — two of the state’s three approved methods of execution — are constitutional.

Lethal injection — the state’s third approved execution method — is not an option in Moore’s case because the state claims it is unable to buy the drugs used to kill. The state asserts drug companies won’t sell the toxic medications to the S.C. Department of Corrections because, under the state’s Freedom of Information law, that information would become public and the companies don’t want the resultant bad publicity.

Despite repeated requests by the state’s corrections department, the General Assembly has not passed legislation that would shield the identifies of those companies.

Issues raised by Moore’s lawyers include questions about why the state cannot get the chemicals for lethal injection, which they say is a “more humane” method of execution.

The state contends electrocution and firing squad are constitutional methods of carrying out an execution and told Moore to choose between the two. Under protest, Moore selected the firing squad — a choice that has attracted national attention since the method dates from an earlier era and is rarely used.

Lindsey Vann, an attorney with Moore’s legal defense team, said later Wednesday she welcomed the state Supreme Court’s temporary stay to allow for further review of the legal issues involved, and looked forward to seeing the forthcoming, more detailed order from the court.

Moore’s stay came on the same day that the South Carolina Department of Corrections said it received an execution date from the S.C. Supreme Court for Brad Keith Sigmon, a 64-year-old Greenville County man who was sentenced to death for the 2001 killings of his ex-girlfriend’s parents.

Sigmon’s execution date is set for May 13. By law, Sigmon will be asked to choose how he would prefer to die 14 days before his May 13 execution date, or April 29.

Sigmon is the latest state prisoner in South Carolina to be issued an execution date after a state law took effect last year that makes electrocution the default method of execution and also gives inmates the option to choose whether they would rather face three volunteers with rifles instead.

“We were pleased to learn that the South Carolina Supreme Court has temporarily stayed the execution of Richard Moore,” the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston said in a Wednesday statement. “We hope the justices will make the same decision regarding the execution of Brad Keith Sigmon, who is now scheduled to die on May 13.”

This story was originally published April 21, 2022 at 5:00 AM with the headline "SC Gov. McMaster says he won’t commute Richard Moore’s death sentence."