Zagorski execution: US Supreme Court ends legal hurdles after Haslam grants temporary reprieve


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Edmund Zagorski is expected to be executed on Oct. 11 Nashville Tennessean

The 1983 police mug of Edmund Zagorski on charges of first-degree murder. Zagorski is accused of killing John Dale Dodson, 28, a Hickman County logger and Jimmy Porter, 35, a Dickson tavern owner.(Photo: File Photo)

Just three hours before Edmund Zagorski was scheduled to die, Gov. Bill Haslam delayed the inmate's execution so the state could prepare to use the electric chair to kill him.

Haslam said a short delay would give the state time to accommodate Zagorski's preference for the electric chair over a controversial lethal injection cocktail. Late Thursday night, the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated two other legal hurdles that might have derailed the execution, making it more likely to move forward soon.

Haslam's temporary reprieve and the high court's decisions came after several days of rapid-fire developments put the state on the defensive and put the timing of Zagorski's execution in question.

Haslam's reprieve was for 10 days, but it could take longer for a new execution date to be set by the Tennessee Supreme Court.

The U.S. Supreme Court struck down two stays Thursday night, essentially ending his remaining legal options to avoid execution:

The high court vacated a stay from the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. The appeals court had planned to weigh whether Zagorski may pursue claims his trial attorneys made errors in representing him.A majority of justices rejected a request from Zagorski’s attorneys for another stay so the high court could review a constitutional challenge to Tennessee’s lethal injection protocol.

Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Stephen Breyer dissented, saying they would have reviewed the lethal injection protocol. In her dissent, Sotomayor said Tennessee's lethal injection method, which experts say leads to torture, should be scrutinized.

"Capital prisoners are not entitled to pleasant deaths under the Eighth Amend­ment, but they are entitled to humane deaths," Sotomayor wrote. "The longer we stand silent amid growing evidence of inhumanity in execution methods like Tennessee’s, the longer we extend our own complicity in state-sponsored brutality."  

Zagorski sued to get the electric chair

Zagorski sued this week to force the state to use the electric chair for his execution, saying the pain of electrocution would be preferable to the controversial lethal injection. A federal judge issued an order temporarily barring the state from executing him by lethal injection while that suit is pending.

The suit could be moot if the state agrees to move forward with the electric chair.

Haslam specifically cited the electric chair suit in his reprieve, suggesting that a delay would give the state time to prepare to execute Zagorski using the electric chair.

“I take seriously the responsibility imposed upon the Tennessee Department of Correction and me by law, and given the federal court’s decision to honor Zagorski’s last-minute decision to choose electrocution as the method of execution, this brief reprieve will give all involved the time necessary to carry out the sentence in an orderly and careful manner,” Haslam said in a statement.

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The state initially refused Zagorski's request to be executed by the electric chair, saying he was too late and hadn't given two weeks' notice.

But District Judge Aleta Trauger at noon Thursday said the state could not use lethal injection until she had considered Zagorski's claim.

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Haslam's reprieve stopped preparations for Zagorski's execution. The Tennessee Department of Correction announced Thursday night that Zagorski would be moved out of his cell next to the execution chamber and back to his spot on death row.

Zagorski sentenced to death for 1983 double murder

Zagorski, 63, faces death for the April 1983 murders of John Dale Dotson and Jimmy Porter.

He shot them, slit their throats and stole their money and a truck, prosecutors say. The two men had expected to buy 100 pounds of marijuana from Zagorski.

Verna Wyatt, an advocate with Tennessee Voices for Victims, has been in contact with Dotson’s family as the challenges and uncertainty piled up.

Billy Ray Irick was executed by lethal injection Thursday,Undated photo of Paula Dyer, who was seven-years-oldThis is the grave marker for Paula K. Dyer in Glenwoodplease correct spelling to DYER: Kathy Jeffers, mother

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Billy Ray Irick, on death row for raping and killingAngie Kliebert heard the news the day Paula K. DyerRae Tennent comforts Anna Reside, left, during a protest

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Protesters gather outside of the Riverbend Maximum

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Pro-death penalty supporter Rick Laude of Nashville

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Protesters gather outside of the Riverbend Maximum

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Fr. John Boylan of Christ the Prophet Church in Spring

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Jon Warkentin of Nashville gathers with protesters

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Tennessee executions since 2000: Robert Glen Coe; DateJerry Medlin, father of Cary Medlin, rests againstTBI Inspector Jack Blackwell, left, leads Robert GlenPhoto taken of Robert Glen Coe after his arrest atMax Speight, center, of Dresden, Tenn., defense attorneySecurity was tight at the Obion County Courthouse asDanny Tinnell, right, accounting manager for Riverbend

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Robert Glen Coe, center, smiles at the cameras a few

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The first witness for the defense was Dr. James R.

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Robert Glen Coe was very distracting to the court during

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Charlotte Stout, mother of the victim, leans her head

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Robert Glen Coe is surrounded by the defense team just

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Charlotte Stout, mother of the victim, reads a letter

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Robert Glen Coe sits in the hearing in his own little

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Condemned killer Robert Glen Coe yells through hisPart of the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution

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Attorney General Paul Summers, left, is flanked by

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Joyce V. Judge, executive director of NAMI Tennessee,

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Harmon Wray is grabbed by two officers and is one of

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Tom Kimmel is one of 19 protesters arrested by Tennessee

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Abraham Bonowitz, who from a citizens group in Florida,

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A death penalty protester sign rest on the wall in

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Father Michael Johnston, left, and Alvin Haas put a

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Charlotte Stout spoke during a Mermorial service for

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A group of television reporters are interviewing Coalition

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Robert Glen Coe's sister, front left, mitigation specialist

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One of only a handful of death penalty advocates at

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Upon seeing death penalty opponents lighting candles

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Brock Mitchel Slentz holds a candle in silent vigilMembers of the Robert Glenn Coe family leave the Riverbend

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Charlotte Ann Stout, center, mother of Carey Medlin,

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Tennessee Department of Corrections PIO Steve Hayes

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Ruth Ventrice, Kenneth Odom and Liz Sodergren, opponentsAttorney General Paul Summers addresses the media in

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Attorney General Paul Summers addresses the media in

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Associated Press reporter Kent Flanagan was one of

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Tennessean reporter Kirk Loggins was one of the witnesses

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Dr. Bruce Levy, the Metro Medical Examiner that performed

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Dr. Bruce Levy, the Metro Medical Examiner, shows the

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Jimmy Coe, of Atwood, Tenn, brother of Robert Glen

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People watch a film made by Dixie Gamble about the

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Tennessee executions since 2000: Sedley Alley; DateAttorney Barry Scheck holds a chart of the DNA Testing

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Defense attorneys Kelly Henry, left, and Barry Scheck

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Trudy Collins, center, mother of murder victim Suzanne

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 Kirk Bloodsworth, right, wipes tears away while testifying

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Chairman Charles Traughber, left, talks with defense

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Kenny Mullins prays for prisoners Sedley Alley and

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Alex Wiesendanger prays for prisoners Sedley Alley

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Volunteer prison chaplain Jerry Nail prays alone by

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With Riverbend Maximum Security Institution looming

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Matthew Bond, left, and Kathy Masulis of Nashville A group protesting against the death penalty keepsRandy Tatel, Executive Director of Tennessee coalitionThe media witnesses leave the Riverbend Maximum Security

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Protestors against the death penalty walk to theirTennessee executions since 2000: Phillip Workman; Date

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Randy Tatel, left' Executive Director for the TennesseeTerry Workman, right, pleads for his brothers lifeRandy Tatel, left, Andrea Murdock, Ann Cover and Kaye

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Rabbi Ken Kanter, left, representing the covenant association,

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Death row inmate Phillip Workman reads a passage from

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Death row inmate Phillip Workman ponders his answer

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Linda Polk, center, hugs Robert Glen Coe's sisters

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Tennessee executions since 2000: Daryl Holton; DateGary Holton, center, uncle of alleged killer DarylDaryl Holton, center, is led out of the ShelbyvilleRev. Stacy Rector, left, Michael Kelsh and Tom KimmelCarmela Malabanan, left, Kristina Richards and Erin

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Death penalty opponent Ed Lonis reads during a vigil

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Witnesses and prison officials come out of Riverbend

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Witnesses and prison officials come out of Riverbend

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The Reverend Stacy Rector, right, sings at a Service

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Hector Black of Cookeville, Tenn., speaks about the

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Tennessee executions since 2000: Steve Henley; DateAnn Lea makes calls at The Tennessee Coalition AgainstField Organizer Isaac Kimes makes a call at The TennesseeField Organizer Isaac Kimes makes a call at The Tennessee

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Family members of Steve Henley, who is scheduled to

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A prayer service was held at the Brookmeade Congregational

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 Menzo Faassen, left, Lyle Mclebain and James Staub

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Paul B. Davidson, Steve Henley's attorney, waits at

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With the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution's lights

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About 50 people showed up at Riverbend Maximum Security

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A protestor prays for Steve Henley as a crowd of about

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Priscilla Coe, left, and Amy Sayward pray during a

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Greg Henley and his sister Leanne make a statement

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Tennessee executions since 2000: Cecil C. Johnson,Detectives Bill Robeck, left, and Gordon Larkin, right,

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Cecil Johnson , right, listerns as attorneys question

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Relatives of Cecil Johnson comfort each other outside

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Bob Bell's Market photo in the Cecil Johnson's caseBob Bell's Market photo of a empty cash register inCecil Johnson, second from left, in a line up photoGeoff Little, center, prays during a service Dec. 1,Stacy Rector speaks to protesters outside the Riverbend

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Stacy Rector speaks to protesters outside the RiverbendDeath penalty opponents pray outside the RiverbendKaren Rybolt, far right, participates in a candlelightDeath penatly opponents hold a candle-light vigil outside

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“What this process does to the victims’ families is barbaric,” Wyatt said. “Thirty-four years, they don’t get justice and it’s an ongoing reliving of their grief and what happened to their loved one.

“If they won’t fix this system, it should be abolished. This is not justice on any level. It’s outrageous.”

Victim's widow: 'It’s just too much'

For the family members of Dotson, the decision set off an emotional roller coaster.

Marsha Dotson, who decided not to attend the scheduled execution of her husband's killer amid the legal back and forth earlier in the day, was completely drained when reached by phone after news of the reprieve went public.

“I’m just going to have to forget about it for a while and get my head together,” she said with a sigh. “It’s just too much.”

Dotson’s daughter made it to Interstate 40 in Dickson County, heading to Nashville to watch Zagorski be put to death, when she said she had a gut feeling the state wasn’t going to proceed as planned and pulled over.

Within minutes, the state was calling her with news of the reprieve, she said.

“I really am just kind of numb, wondering when and why,” said Kim Dotson Rochelle, 48. “He’s smarter to me, right now, than the Supreme Court. He knows every stop, every pull to stop the inevitable. He has more knowledge than they give him credit for.”

Edmund Zagorski execution: What you need to know

Catholic bishops of Nashville and Knoxville speak out against looming Zagorski execution

Edmund Zagorski spent 34 years behind bars with no visitors. He's scheduled to be executed Thursday.

Mariah Timms contributed to this report.

Reach Anita Wadhwani at awadhwani@tennessean.com and follow her on Twitter @anitawadhwani.

Read or Share this story: https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2018/10/11/tennessee-edmund-zagorski-execution-plans-move-forward-amid-legal-challenges/1600708002/


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