U.S.Supreme Court halts 2 executions over ineffective assistance claims

By Kimberly Atkins Dolan Media Newswires BOSTON, MA--The Supreme Court granted two stays of execution this week, both on claims that the inmates' attorneys performed ineffectively. On Monday night the Court issued an order granting a stay at Arizona inmate Daniel Wayne Cook on his claim that his lawyers failed to offer evidence of his troubled childhood and resulting mental illness during his sentencing hearing, reports SCOTUSblog's Lyle Denniston. The order came one day before Cook was to be put to death for killing two coworkers. In Texas, Cleve Foster was granted a stay by the Court Tuesday, just hours before he was scheduled to be executed for killing a woman he met in a Fort Worth bar. He claims his lawyer failed to call a blood evidence expert to support his innocence claim. Published: Mon, Apr 25, 2011