Federal judge considering injunction for July 28 execution of Joe Nathan James Jr.

A federal judge is considering a delay in the scheduled July 28 execution of an Alabama death row inmate, court records show.

U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Alabama Terry F. Moorer issued an order Tuesday saying that he is considering a preliminary injunction in the case of Joe Nathan James Jr., who has filed several lawsuits against government officials, including Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall. If approved, the injunction would delay James’ execution until the cases have been fully heard.

Kit Ekman, chief deputy clerk for the Southern District of Alabama, said he expects Moorer will make a judgment to accept or deny the injunction "soon."

“A ruling at any time from today forward is certainly possible,” Ekman said on Tuesday.

James, 49, was sentenced to death after being convicted of capital murder in the death of his former girlfriend, Faith Hall.

According to reporting by the Associated Press, James forced his way into her Birmingham home on Aug. 15, 1994, accused her of infidelity and shot her. Hall died of multiple gunshot wounds.

A Jefferson County jury convicted James in 1996 and recommended the death penalty, which a judge imposed. The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals overturned the conviction, ruling a judge wrongly admitted police reports into evidence. James was retried and sentenced to death in 1999.

James has five civil rights complaints in federal court since Alabama’s Supreme Court on June 7 scheduled James’ execution. Moorer is considering preliminary injunctions in three of James’ lawsuits.

In his complaint filed June 22, James claims that the state attorney general violated his rights to equal protection and due process under the 14th Amendment by not giving him the option to choose nitrogen hypoxia, an untested execution method authorized by the state in 2018.

James asked that the court stay his pending execution and that “plaintiff’s right to make a fair and informed election be restored as have others similarly situated,” his hand-written complaint reads.

In his motion to dismiss the case filed July 1, Marshall claims James was in fact given the option to choose nitrogen hypoxia during a 30-day window in June 2018 after its use was authorized.

“[James] does not allege that he wished to elect in June 2018 during the thirty-day election window. Nor does he allege that he did not know of the election period,” Marshall’s motion to dismiss reads.

If James’ claims are true, Marshall argues, there’s nothing his office could do to redress James’ inability to elect nitrogen hypoxia, as the 30-day request window was established by the Legislature, not the Attorney General’s Office.

Earlier this year: Alabama executes Matthew Reeves by lethal injection after U.S. Supreme Court lifts stay

“At bottom, his claim of an equal protection violation amounts to nothing more than a last-ditch attempt to avoid his justly imposed and timely ordered execution,” the motion to dismiss states.

James has until July 15 to respond to Marshall’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit. If he fails to reply by that deadline, Moorer will consider the motion to dismiss without James’ response. If he responds by July 15, Marshall will have three days to file a response.

Moorer will not consider the motion to dismiss until responses are filed or the July 15 deadline arrives.

Moorer is also considering a preliminary injunction in a pair of James’ lawsuits in which he claims that the order for his execution issued by the Alabama Supreme Court does not constitute an execution warrant. James lists a host of officials in his complaint, including Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner John Hamm and Holman Correctional Facility Warden Terry Raybon.

Marshall claims that the Alabama Supreme Court order is a valid execution warrant in full compliance with the law in motions to dismiss the lawsuits.

On July 5, James filed two additional lawsuits claiming the execution warrants were fraudulent. The defendants have not yet filed responses.

His June 22 complaint against the Federal Defenders of the Middle District of Alabama was dismissed on June 29 because an “injunction or a stay of execution which put simply is not something that the Federal Defenders for the Middle District of Alabama can provide,” Moorer wrote.

If James’ execution occurs as scheduled on July 28, he will be the second person put to death by the state in 2022.

Matthew Reeves was executed by lethal injection in January for the 1996 killing of Willie Johnson Jr. after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected claims that Reeves had an intellectual disability preventing him from choosing nitrogen hypoxia as his method of execution.

Evan Mealins is the justice reporter for the Montgomery Advertiser. Contact him at emealins@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanMealins.

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This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Execution of Alabama death row inmate could be delayed