[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----ALABAMA

[Rick Halperin]

February 6




ALABAMA:

Court grants Muslim death row inmate stay of execution



The U.S. Court of Appeals has granted a stay of execution for a Muslim death 
row inmate in Alabama as he continues his ongoing bid to have an imam present 
at his execution.

Domineque Ray on Monday motioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for a stay after a 
federal district court judge denied a stay last week. The absence of his imam 
in Alabama's death chamber would violate his constitutional rights, as the 
state has an established practice of including a Christian prison chaplain in 
previous executions, Ray's lawyers argued in court filings.

Ray was sentenced to death for the 1995 rape and fatal stabbing of 15-year-old 
Tiffany Harville of Selma. Months before his death penalty trial, he was 
sentenced to life for a 1994 slaying of two teen brothers, The Associated Press 
reports.

(source: Montgomery Advertiser)