US executes Brandon Bernard after Supreme Court refuses to stay

 

US executes Brandon Bernard after Supreme Court refuses to stay


Brandon Bernard became the ninth person to be killed by the federal government this year. He was executed late Thursday after he spent more than 20 years in prison.
Brandon Bernard, convicted for his involvement in the brutal murder of two youth ministers in 1999, was executed Thursday evening after eleventh-hour appeals from criminal justice advocates and celebrities, including Kim Kardashian West, failed to spare his life.

He was pronounced dead at 9:27 pm from a lethal injection at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Bernard, 40, served more than 20 years behind bars for his involvement in the kidnapping, robbery, shooting possible to wish to see the bulge. His death marks the ninth execution by the federal government this year after the operation resumed after a 17-year break.

In his last words, Bernard spoke to the family of the couple he killed, according to The Associated Press. He said: "I'm sorry. These are the only words I can say that perfectly capture how I feel now and how I felt that day."

Mother said Todd, Georgia Bagley, told reporters that the considerations of Bernard and the shooter, Christopher Corps, who was killed in September, " helped a lot to heal my heart."She forgave them.

The execution was the first in 130 years to be carried out during a presidential transition. According to CNN, the Bernard, who committed his crime at the age of 18, is also the youngest person in the United States receive the death penalty for nearly years 70.


Bernard's lawyer Robert Owens sought to review the case after discovering previously undisclosed evidence. Owens argued that prosecutors at the trial withheld evidence that showed Bernard had a low-level position in the gang that committed the murders, according to the Indianapolis Star.

Former jurors involved in the case had come forward in recent weeks to say that if such evidence had been presented during the trial, it would have influenced their decision, CNN reports.

Angela Moore, a former federal prosecutor involved in the case, wrote in November in an editorial that they think that Bernard should not be kept until death, citing his youth at the time of the murder and good behavior while in prison.

"I have always intended to represent the United States as a federal prosecutor, and I believe Brandon's execution would be a terrible stain on the nation's honor,"she wrote.

High-profile lawyers Alan Dershowitz, Ken Starr and Kardashian West, the reality star, tried to stop the execution this week. Dershowitz and Starr joined Bernard's legal team on Thursday and filed a petition with the Supreme Court asking for a two-week delay in execution.

The Supreme Court rejected the request.

Kardashian West was using her platform to raise awareness of the Bernard case. She has been involved in advocacy for criminal justice since 2018 when she helped release Alice Marie Johnson. Johnson was serving a life sentence for nonviolent drug charges before she was pardoned by President Trump.

Without success, Kardashian West also appealed to Trump to commute Bernard's sentence.

In a tweet after his execution, Kardashian West said of Bernard: "he was a reformed person. Optimistic and positive to the end. Most importantly, he is sorry, very sorry for the hurt and pain caused by others."



Todd and Stacy Bagley were on their way back from a church service in Killeen, Texas, the night they were killed on June 21, 1999. They stopped at a store where they came across Bernard and his friends who asked the couple to ride home.

As soon as the couple agreed, Vialva produced a gun and ordered them into the trunk of their car. The group then wandered for several hours trying to use the couple's ATM cards and Stacey's pawn wedding ring, according to the Justice Department.

The group eventually pulled to the side of the road. Out Vialva of the car, walked to the trunk, and shot the couple in the head. With Bagleys still in the trunk, Bernard set the car on fire.

Prosecutors said during the trial that Stacy didn't die from the gunshot, but by smoke inhalation. This claim has been challenged by defense attorneys, but the Justice Department still maintains Stacey died from the fire.

The White House plans to carry out four more federal executions before Trump leaves office in January, making a total of 13 since the operation resumed over the summer.

Another prisoner is scheduled to be executed on Friday. Alfred Bourgeois is scheduled to be executed for the torture and murder of this two-year-old daughter in 2002.