How A Firing Squad Process Works | WPDE

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ACCESSIBILITY

How a firing squad process works

by Marcus Flowers

Fri, April 15, 2022 at 3:02 PMUpdated Fri, April 15, 2022 at 4:23 PM3VIEW ALL PHOTOSWitnesses will be there while the prisoner is placed (CREDIT: FILES/PHOTOS)Comment on this story0CommentShare storyShare

topics:

• James Mahoney
• South Carolina,United States
• Washington
• Washington,United States
• social issues
• Richard Bernard Moore
• Law_Crime
• Capital Punishment In Louisiana

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WACH) — On April 29,Richard Bernard Moore, will die by firing squad according to court documents filed on April 15.

RELATED /Prisoner chooses to die by firing squad rather than electric chair in South Carolina

Moorehas spent more than two decades on death row after being convicted of the 1999 killing of convenience store clerk James Mahoney in Spartanburg. If executed as scheduled on April 29, he would be the first person put to death in the state since 2011 and the fourth in the country to die by firing squad in nearly half a century.

Moore decided to die by firing squad instead of the electric chair, one Department of Correction officials explains how the firing squad process works:

Three firing squad members will be behind the wall, with rifles facing the inmate through the opening. The rifles and open portal will not be visible from the witness room. All three rifles will be loaded with live ammunition. The witnesses will see the right-side profile of the inmate. The inmate will not face the witness room directly. The electric chair faces the witnesses directly. The inmate will wear a prison-issued uniform and be escorted into the chamber. The inmate will be given the opportunity to make a last statement. The inmate will be strapped into the chair, and a hood will be placed over his head. A small aim point will be placed over his heart by a member of the execution team. After the warden reads the execution order, the team will fire. After the shots, a doctor will examine the inmate. After the inmate is declared dead, the curtain will be drawn and witnesses escorted out. Members of the firing squad are volunteer SCDC employees. They must meet certain qualifications.

The department spent about $53,600 on supplies and materials to make these changes comply with the law and add safety precautions officials say. The construction and design work was done in-house.

In a written statement, Moore said he didn’t concede that either method was legal or constitutional, but that he more strongly opposed death by electrocution and only chose the firing squad because he was required to make a choice.

“I believe this election is forcing me to choose between two unconstitutional methods of execution, and I do not intend to waive any challenges to electrocution or firing squad by making an election,” Moore said in the statement.

Moore’s attorneys have asked the state Supreme Court to delay his death while another court determines if either available method is cruel and unusual punishment. The attorneys argue prisons officials aren’t trying hard enough to get the lethal injection drugs, instead forcing prisoners to choose between two more barbaric methods.

Moore is one of 35 men on South Carolina’s death row. The state last scheduled an execution for Moore in 2020, which was then delayed after prison officials said they couldn’t obtain lethal injection drugs.

South Carolina is one of eight states to still use the electric chair and one of four to allow a firing squad, according to the Washington-based nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center.

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