South Carolina Killer Escapes Electric Chair

The South Carolina Department of Corrections was scheduled to execute James Earl Reed on Friday, June 20, 2008 at 6:00pm in their electric chair. Just minutes prior to his scheduled date with death, Reed's life was spared when a federal court granted a reprieve pending the outcome of a last minute appeal.

Reed, who has been on death row since 1996 for the murders of his ex-girlfriend's parents Joseph and Barbara Lafayette in their Charleston County home two years earlier had dropped his appeals. According to reports from Prison Officials he had one federal appeal left and it is unclear right now who filed that late appeal. James Earl Reed was to be the first person electrocuted in South Carolina's electric chair in more than four years. The last electrocution in the United States was on September 12th of 2007 when the state of Tennessee executed Daryl Holton for the murders of his children.

Reed represented himself during his trial arguing that there was no physical evidence linking him to the murders. The prosecutors presented a confession and three eyewitnesses who testified that they saw him leave the house and drive away in the victims' car after shots were heard. The jury took 30 minutes to deliberate and returned with a guilty verdict. Reed requested an attorney to represent him during the sentencing phase of his trial and his request was denied. In 2003, Reed requested to drop all his appeals and be executed A letter sent to the Associated Press in 2003, Reed wrote, "I am standing upon my word that this case be dismiss or I be killed."

Currently there are eight states that still use the electric chair for executions and all them them offer lethal injection as an alternative. In South Carolina inmates have a choice of the electric chair or lethal injection. James Earl Reed chose to die in the electric chair which has prompted much debate on internet blogging sites such as the Pro Death Penalty Information Community.

There are at least twenty-three scheduled executions nationwide for the remainder of 2008. The next inmate scheduled for execution is Robert Yarbrough in Virginia on June 25, 2008 for the murder and robbery of Cyril Hugh Hamby, age 77.