WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal appeals court has cleared the way for the only woman on federal death row to be executed before President-elect Joe Biden takes office.
The ruling, handed down Friday by a three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, concludes that a lower court judge erred when he vacated Lisa Montgomery's execution date in an order last week.
The judge had ruled the Justice Department unlawfully rescheduled Montgomery's execution and he vacated an order from the director of the Bureau of Prisons scheduling her death for Jan. 12.
But the appeals panel Friday disagreed.
According to The Associated Press, Montgomery was convicted of murdering Bobbie Jo Stinnett, 23, in December 2004 in Skidmore, Missouri, and was sentenced to death in 2008.
The AP reported that Montgomery's attorney, Meaghan VerGow, would have the full appeals court review the case and said her client should not be executed on Jan. 12.
