Indiana Supreme Court refuses delay – execution set for Nov. 5

The Indiana Supreme Court has unanimously refused to postpone the execution of Jeffrey Weisheit. The 50-year-old is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection before sunrise on Nov. 5 at the state prison in Michigan City. On Oct. 12, his lawyers asked for the execution and clemency proceedings to be delayed by 14 days and for him to be taken to a medical facility for brain scans. They argue that severe mental illness and possible brain injuries contributed to the crime. The justices said the judiciary cannot halt the executive branch’s clemency process. However, the executive branch retains its own authority to transport him for the scans without a court order. The attorney general’s office opposed both emergency motions.

Weisheit was sentenced to death in 2013. In 2010 he set fire to the home of his then-girlfriend near Evansville, killing her children, aged five and eight. The parole board heard arguments from both sides on Oct. 16 and 19. Its recommendation is not binding, and the final decision rests with Republican Gov. Mike Braun. The victims’ family is divided: the children’s father supports clemency, while their mother urged officials to carry out the sentence. “I am here today to ensure my children’s voices are heard,” she said at the hearing. Weisheit’s lawyers are seeking a commutation to life without parole.

A federal judge had already approved funding for possible brain scans but ruled on Oct. 7 that she lacked authority to order his transport for a state clemency case. According to reporting by the station WRTV, Indiana’s Department of Correction has paid $275,000 for execution drugs. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, further executions are scheduled in the United States in November, including on Nov. 5 in Florida and on Nov. 12 in Texas and Oklahoma. In Tennessee, by contrast, executions are suspended for the rest of the year after the failed attempt to execute Christa Pike.