Judge rules state can proceed with Richard Gerald Jordan’s execution

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - A federal judge says the execution of Mississippi’s longest death row inmate can move forward, but with a caveat.

On Friday, U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate denied Richard Jordan’s request for a temporary injunction blocking his June 25 execution.

However, Wingate did include a caveat in the order, in case the first drug used in the state’s three-drug protocol does not render Jordan unconscious.

[READ: Hearing could determine whether Richard Gerald Jordan’s planned execution moves forward]

The state uses three drugs in its execution process. The first drug is Midazolam. Officials are expected to administer a 500 mg dose to render the prisoner unconscious.

If that drug does not work, Wingate ordered Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner Burl Cain to contact the court before determining how to proceed.

“Neither plaintiffs nor defendants... have addressed the effect that a second 500 mg dose of Midazolam would have on Plaintiff Jordan, i.e., whether a second... dose would kill him, cause him unconstitutional pain, or find him to be resistant of Midazolam altogether,” the judge wrote.

The ruling comes just days after a hearing in federal District Court, where the judge heard from attorneys on both sides.

Jordan’s counsel argued that the drugs used by the Mississippi Department of Corrections could cause unnecessary pain in the minutes leading up to the prisoner’s death.

The state argued that the data used to back up Jordan’s claims was not accurate, and that a new protocol requiring a “consciousness check” would be required after the first drug is administered.

The state currently uses three drugs in its execution protocol, including Midazolam, rocuronium bromide, and potassium chloride.

Jordan’s attorney argued that Midazolam isn’t always effective in rendering the prisoner unconscious, which means he would likely be able to feel the results of the bromide and potassium chloride, a violation of the Eighth Amendment and the “evolving standards of decency.”

“Effectively, this is the same argument the court rejected when it declined to issue a writ staying the execution of Thomas Loden in 2022,” Wingate wrote. “The applicable law has not changed.”

Jordan’s counsel also pointed out that the state had previously failed to follow its execution protocols, including in Loden’s case, where his last visible movement occurred at the same time officials began administering the potassium chloride.

However, Wingate didn’t buy it and instead referenced a previous opinion from U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.

“‘An isolated mishap alone does not give rise to an Eighth Amendment violation, precisely because such an event, while regrettable, does not suggest cruelty, or that the procedure at issue gives rise to a ‘substantial risk of serious harm.’”

Jordan, 79, has been sentenced to die multiple times for the 1976 kidnapping and murder of Edwina Marter.

Marter, the 35-year-old wife of a bank executive, was taken from her home in Harrison County while her child was asleep. Jordan forced her to drive him to a remote area in DeSoto National Forest, where he killed her.

Following his 1976 conviction, Jordan was granted a new trial by the Mississippi Supreme Court after it handed down a ruling saying that “bifurcated proceedings” were required in capital murder cases.

A bifurcated trial means that the guilty plea and sentencing must be decided in two separate phases, according to Cornell Law’s website.

In 1977, Jordan was again convicted and sentenced to death at bifurcated proceedings. The high court upheld that sentence, but the U.S. Fifth Circuit granted habeas corpus relief, citing an improper jury instruction.

Jordan was again convicted and sentenced to die in 1983. That ruling was reversed and remanded by the U.S. Supreme Court. While his conviction was on appeal, Jordan was given a plea deal “in which he accepted a life sentence in exchange for his agreement not to collaterally attack his sentence.”

That sentence was appealed, and the court vacated it and ruled that the prosecutor could seek the death penalty in future proceedings. In 1998, Jordan was again convicted and sentenced to death.

Jordan also asked Gov. Tate Reeves to commute his sentence to life in prison. The governor was expected to make a decision after Wingate handed down his ruling.

See the full ruling below.

Want more WLBT news in your inbox? Click here to subscribe to our newsletter.

See a spelling or grammar error in our story? Please click here to report it and include the headline of the story in your email.