Nevada Judiciary

The stay immediately affects convicted killer William Castillo, who was scheduled to die by lethal injection at 8:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 15, 2007. The decision notes that the only pending warrant of execution was that of Mr. Castillo.

The Courts decision and case information are posted on the Supreme Court website under HIGH PROFILE CASES.

The case is:
American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada,
Mario de la rose, and Ahora Newspaper
Petitioners
Vs.
Howard Skolnik, director, Nevada Department of Corrections, and
Nevada Department of Corrections
Respondants

The emergency hearing, which ended about 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 15, 2007, was based on a petition filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada that sought a Nevada Supreme Court order enjoining the Director of the Nevada Department of Corrections from carrying out all executions "under the Director's present lethal injection protocol."

A decision was handed down about 90 minutes before Mr. Castillo's scheduled execution.

The order scheduling the emergency hearing noted that the United States Supreme Court is considering the case of Baze v. Rees on the issue of the Constitutionality of lethal injection. The Nevada Supreme Court "has determined that a hearing is necessary on the issue of whether this court should stay the issuance of all warrants of execution in the State of Nevada pending this (U.S. Supreme) Court’,,s consideration and resolution of the instant petition."

Nevada’,,s seven Justices presided over arguments in Carson City, but the session was videoconferenced to the Supreme Court’,,s southern courtroom on the 17th floor of the Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas. ACLU attorney Allen Lichtenstein was the only lawyer to argue his portion of the case from Las Vegas over the video link.

Had the Nevada Supreme Court not acted, Nevada would have become the only state to execute an inmate by lethal injection while the U.S. Supreme Court was considering the constitutionality of that form of execution.

In the decision, the Supreme Court set a briefing schedule and instructed the petitioners to "address whether they have standing to bring the instant petition." The briefing period covers 60 days, after which a hearing before the full court will be scheduled.