JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The Missouri Supreme Court has rejected a request to delay the scheduled June 17 execution of Reginald Clemons. The 37-year-old Clemons is one of four men convicted of forcing three people to jump off a St. Louis bridge into the Mississippi River in 1991. Twenty-one-year-old Julie Kerry and her 19-year-old sister, Robin, died.
The state Supreme Court on Tuesday denied a request by Clemons' attorney to delay the execution so that the competency of Missouri's execution team could be evaluated. Missouri's execution process has been a key legal issue since a federal judge temporarily halted executions over concerns about the process in 2006.
Last week, Missouri executed its first person since one of Clemons' accomplices was executed in 2005.
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