Judge stays soldier’s execution

Pvt. Ronald Gray in 1988
Convicted of multiple murders, rapes in late 1980s


Judge stays soldier’s execution
By Michelle Tan - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Dec 2, 2008 15:17:57 EST

A U.S. district court judge has granted a stay in the execution of Pvt. Ronald A. Gray, a move that likely will delay the first military execution since 1961.

The execution was scheduled for Dec. 10 at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Ind. However, the order from Judge Richard Rogers, dated Nov. 26, stays the execution to allow Gray and his attorneys to file a habeas corpus petition.

The stay of execution will remain in place until further order from the court, according to a copy of the judge’s order.

Gray was convicted of multiple murders and rapes in the late 1980s in the Fayetteville, N.C., area. At the time, Gray was a specialist with the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C.

The court-martial panel that convicted Gray sentenced him to death in 1988. On July 28, 2008, President Bush approved the order to execute Gray, the longest-serving inmate on the military’s death row at the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kan.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/12/army_gray_120208w/%2e