December 16, 2025 • 25 mins
The state of Georgia has just suspended the execution of 52-year-old Stacey Humphreys scheduled for this Wednesday. Because two members of its pardons and parole board have alleged conflicts of interest, the clemency hearing scheduled for today has now been “postponed until further notice.” Humphreys had already made headlines earlier for his exorbitant and jaw dropping last meal request which you have to hear to believe. Finally, as Florida continues its record setting year of executions, its last lethal injection is set for Thursday, just as new research shows public opposition for the death penalty is at its highest level in nearly 50 years.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hey there, folks. It is Tuesday, December sixteenth, and an
execution that was scheduled for tomorrow night has been halted
with just hours to spare. You could argue, but this
doesn't mean that this death row inmates life is about
to be spared with that. Welcome to this episode of
(00:22):
Amy and t J and Robes. This is happening. A
lot is happening with executions this year, just as now
we're getting a new report that shows support for the
death penalty is at the lowest level we've seen in
fifty years, but the numbers of executions at the highest
numbers we've seen are a lot.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
That is a strange hyah, how do you make that
work shift there? Because it's interesting. You've got a state
like Florida and Governor DeSantis trying to say, hey, if
we are legalizing executions and we've sent people to death,
why are people on death row for up to four decades.
Let's get some closure and some justice for these families.
(00:57):
And so he's pushing a lot of execution forward. Number
nineteen is scheduled for later this week. But yeah, there's
been a lot of news, a lot of headlines and
a lot of questioning not just to the legality but
to the morality of what we do here in this country.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
And look, that debate will of course continue. The other
part of that's come up in a handful of cases
literally is about guilt or innocence. Correct, that we're close
to possibly condemning someone and putting someone to death, it's
something that we can't take back with some questions about
their guilt or innocence. Now, this week we were supposed
to see Rope. Yes, Christmas is next week. We were
(01:34):
wrapping up the year here in this country by getting
two more executions on the books. That would have been
the forty seventh and forty eighth if I have that correct,
I say would have been because right now one has
been halted. And this was one rogues we were keeping
an eye on in Georgia that there were some questions
they were trying to get it stopped. But now another
(01:55):
reason has popped up. But we'll tell you who we're
talking about.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
First of all, yes, we're talking about fifty two year
old Stacey See Humphreys. He was convicted in a double
murder back in two thousand and three. And yes, we've
seen his attorneys over the last couple of weeks, which
is very oftentimes the case, trying lots of different reasons
or ways to try and get this executed. Execution stayed
and he had a clemency hearing actually scheduled for today.
(02:18):
So his lawyers have been working diligently around the clock
trying to get some movement or at least trying to
stop the execution. And turns out something worked, at least temporarily.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
So well, the courts had been turning them down left
and right. They were making all kinds of arguments about
the execution. Every judge, every court has said no, no, no, no, no.
Now something else has happened. Because there was an order
issued yesterday on Monday, again this is Monday, which would
have been two days before the planned execution. This Parole
Board issued an order suspending I think that's the word
(02:54):
they use, suspending his execution scheduled for tomorrow night. They
did this and didn't really give any clarity. They didn't
explain why, but they said his execution is now on.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
Hold, correct, and his clemency hearing, which was scheduled for
today has been postponed until further notice. So they have
not said when they're going to reschedule that, and it
would appear as though you would need to have a
clemency hearing. And this was scheduled the day before his
scheduled execution. So if they can't put together the clemency hearing,
(03:31):
it makes a lot of sense why they had to
postpone his actual execution. Now here's the deal. They do
have a death warrant. I believe that was signed December third.
It was, It was signed a couple weeks ago, and
it's valid through noon on Christmas Eve.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
So they have until then.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Literally to figure out what they're doing with this clemency hearing,
which would then clear the way for the execution.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Okay, well, if you just stopped there for a second,
he's going to make it to twenty twenty six. Who's
working on Christmas week trying to kill a guy?
Speaker 2 (04:05):
And there's a lot of confusion as to what they
have to get in place in order to make this
clemency hearing fair.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
And the guy we're talking about here, this is some
pretty heinous stuff. Malice murder, that is what they called
it down in Georgia. Malice murders what he was convicted
of in two thousand and three. Killed two women, young women,
Laurie Brown who's twenty one, Cindy Williams, thirty three. OK,
if you done down in those areas, you know, model homes,
a lot of subdivisions pop up and they put it's
usually kind of not a lot of traffic, to be honest,
(04:35):
in those neighborhoods. But the couple people, a couple of
real estate agents. They were stationed in a model home
trying to sell this neighborhood. He comes in, ties them up,
forces them to strip naked, essentially tortures them so that
they will give their pen numbers to their ATM and
sure enough later thousand of dollars are taken out of
their accounts. But he killed these women, shot these two women.
(04:57):
That was the scene. So he is convicted of some
pretty horrific There's not questions at least in this about
guilt or innocence.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
No. I believe he even admitted to police early on
that he was responsible and gave an explanation that he
needed that. I think he ended up getting three thousand
dollars and he needed that money because he had taken
out some high interest loans in a new vehicle, and
so just the callousness that he would just disregard to
young women's lives Cindy Williams thirty three, Lorie Brown, twenty one,
(05:25):
because he needed some cash to pay off some loans
that he had taken on irresponsibly. That's about as disgusting
as it gets.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
So a lot of routes they tried, at least his
legal team in the courts failed, failed, failed every time
along the way. But this is why now it appears
he had a shot to survive. I guess Robes just
passed tomorrow because the reasons now it's been halted don't
necessarily point to his innocence or a court action. This
(05:56):
seems Robes, it seems to me just a delay. Is
not fair to say this is just a dela.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
It seems as though this is inevitable.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
It is almost certainly going to happen, because, yes, it's
not a question of guilt or innocence. It's not a
question as to whether or not he received a fair trial.
It's not a question about anything that Typically we would
see execution stayed for and a life in prison sentence
imposed in lieu of an execution.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
That is not this case.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
This is about a parole board, which is comprised of
five members, and he would need three of those board
members to say and to vote for clemency for him
to have a shot at not being executed on Wednesday,
which was when he was originally scheduled for. But now
two of those members, they claim his lawyer's team claim,
(06:42):
have a conflict of interest in making their decision.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
So yes, if two of the five needs to recuse themselves,
then there's only three people left on the board to vote.
His attorneys arguing he has the right to a full
five members, and that is why we have a delay.
They're trying to figure out how much time do we
get to possibly get two more in there. There are
folks from the state who are arguing there's nothing that
(07:08):
says he is legally has the right to five people
three can vote, So that is the hold up. But
it does appear at least right now he is going
to live to I don't know, to fight another day.
But he is going to get to live another day
because it is the understanding he is going to get
a clemency hearing. When can you put this together quickly enough?
(07:31):
The judge say, quickly enough. Now just the three is fine,
and then where's everybody going on for Christmas? What's happening?
And clock is ticking. We got to kill this guy
before Santa Coms is what we're up against in Georgia.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
It's a a cob deadline this time of year certainly
to even consider. But yes, I mean it looked as though,
I mean, it was curious to me that the parole
board decided to go ahead, maybe just out of an
abundance of caution, to just go ahead and say, let's
just put this on pause, because it does seem as
though the three members would be enough, according to state
law for him to get a fair shake at clemency,
(08:03):
to have those three members say yes or no.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Would you want the five though if you're like.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
Of course you would, of course you would yes.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
And maybe you take inventory. Maybe the two that got
dumped off weren't even fans of yours in the first place.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
The interesting thing is the one of the of the
board members actually recused herself. She recognized that there could
be an appearance of impropriety, even though she said I
would be able to make this. She was a victim's
advocate at the same time surrounding his case, so she
had personal ties to the case. The other member was,
I believe, the acting sheriff in the county where his
(08:36):
trial was moved to.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
And so he's saying.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Look, if he oversaw protecting the jurors and protecting people
who were a part of the trial, that maybe he
would have an unfair view of this man and what
he did because he was connected to the case on
a level where he was dealing with jurors and potentially victims, etc.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
Look, when we've said plenty of times here, if this
is a matter of killing someone, why not take your
time in the final days and weeks to get it right.
And so if they're getting it right, that's fine, But
it is fascinating Robes to imagine that they are up
against the clock in Georgia. If we want to kill
this guy, we need to do it before everybody goes
(09:18):
to sleep on Christmas Eve, like the death ways noon, right,
and on Christmas Eve is when it expired. That's just
so he is waiting to if he makes it to
Christmas Eve at noon, he'll survive to the need. That
is macab That is just Look, the crime is horrific.
This is not what we're doing, but we are. This
is state sanctioned killing that we're doing here, and so
(09:41):
it just something about that just feels icky as hell.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Yes, and look, he's I know this sounds crazy, but
he's been on death row. I at least these crime,
this crime happened twenty two years ago, compared to some
of the time. We've seen plenty of inmates this year
who ended up being executed on death row.
Speaker 3 (09:57):
We were talking three decades, even four decades.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
I remember thirty seven years on one. Do you remember one?
Speaker 2 (10:02):
Worse more, there was in forty something years I believe
one of them this year. So yes, it was the
one where the father of the child who was killed
actually perished. Three judges perished, like everyone involved in the
trial had died, and he was waiting. It was forty
something years, so yes, twenty two years. What's another month
(10:22):
or two to make sure that this is done correctly.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
Well, he was one you and I had planned we
were going to do a preview of this execution. Look,
because of a lot of the legal things that had
come up, but also it is always a public fascination
with the final meal, and it's bizarre to a certain degree,
but it's also understandable. It's human nature to it's something
we can't relate to. We don't know what that's like,
(10:49):
and it's kind of related in, kind of steeped in
religion as well. A last meal, a final supper kind
of a thing, and some argue it's just something we
use to make the public feel better about what we're
about to do.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
I was just going to say it, does it relieve
some guilt that we give these the worst of the worst,
these notorious killers, who've been convicted of the most heinous crimes,
that somehow we give them one last little bit of
pleasure before we kill them, That somehow that makes us
feel better about what we're doing. I don't know, but yeah,
we were going to do an entire podcast on last
(11:22):
meals because this particular inmate, Stacy Humphries, was making headlines
for what he was requesting and what it seemed as
though the Department of Corrections in Georgia was going to
give him.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
Have you seen one more a bigger one, or more
fascinating one than this one? We've seen a lot over
the years, not just this year, but I can't remember
one quite like that.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
This was the most jaw dropping last meal request I
have seen, and.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
One that it seemed as though the date was going
to honor just because of its size. It was. I
guess gludness is how a lot of people would have
put it.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
And OBEs, yes, described he's a large man six two
three hundred pounds or so, so but his even still
his last meal request was a lot. So here's what
actually Georgia put out as his last meal. Barbecue, beef brisket,
pork ribs, bacon, double cheese, burger, french fries, coleslaw, cornbread,
(12:19):
buffalo wings, meat lover's pan, pizza, vanilla ice cream, and
two lemon lime sodas.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
Have you ever seen anything like that?
Speaker 1 (12:28):
Oh? H and haven't seen anyone? I mean, good for him,
he's not going out with the steak tartar, I mean,
why the hell? I mean, go crazy And that last
moment's almost like he's trying to eat himself to death
before the execution. But that's incredible. If they are, they
put it out there. Maybe they will, and some will argue,
why are we given anybody any comfort in the last
(12:48):
second given what they have done? I don't know. Maybe
because we're supposed to be better than they are. Maybe
because we're supposed to be a little decent, a little human.
I don't know what Georgia's rules are, but rules I
didn't realize stay vary on how much they will let
them get away with, but generally it seems like they
like to make these requests happen. I don't know Georgia's
(13:10):
limit on the cost. Florida has a forty dollars one.
I think a couple other states have a fifteen or
twenty five dollars one, but I don't know if it's unlimited.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
I think we need to do a podcast on this, because,
I mean, I don't know why. It's fascinating, but it
is to see what we're willing to spend, what length
we're willing to go to do we order out from restaurants?
Does it have to be made within a prison kitchen?
As you point out, different states have different rules, and
this one is exceptional.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
And of course in the middle of this, Texas obviously
on last meals, they have by far executed more people
than any other state since the death penalty was reinstated
in nineteen seventy six. They stopped this robes legislation. Some
state centator got pissed because a death row inmate ordered
some big, extravagant meal and didn't need it, so it
(13:59):
was a waste. Came back. They have passed legislation you
do not get a last meal in Texas. I get that,
though it's cafeteria food is the standard thing. Some people
do will say that makes sense. Some people hear that
I didn't know about this, like, oh.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
Well, look, if you're going to stand by your death
penalty and stand by the executions of convicted killers, then
I understand with that same reasoning in mind, why would
you give them some sort of pleasure before you kill them?
Did they afford that to their victims. I'm sure that's
not the case, But I was going to ask, could
(14:35):
any human being eat all of that food? First of all,
I wouldn't even have an appetite if I were about
to be executed.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
That's why they said the guy in Texas didn't eat.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
Yeah, because I get that when I'm stressed or upset
or nervous or anxious, I cannot.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
Eat one more note there. Some states have gone to
given the meal a day or two ahead of time,
not on the day, because obviously they wouldn't have appetime.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
Yeah, that seems remarkable and yes, all of this food.
I I could have been starved in the desert for
two weeks and I couldn't finish half of that, So
that seems excessive. And that's why I'm just curious why
Georgia put that out there and said here's what he's
asking for, and they didn't say they weren't going to
give it to him. I just thought that was maybe
they were testing to see what public reaction would be like.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
I don't know, but it was baffling.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
All right, Well, folks, stay with us here because as
we wrap up this year, one of the primary resources,
a great resource for all the information having to do
with executions here in the United States. They have put
out their annual report and it's pretty shocking to see
how the numbers of executions have gone up so much,
but the number of people supporting the death penalty has
(15:40):
gone down. Stay here, all right, We continue here on
Amy and TJ talking about the execution in Georgia that
has now been postponed. As they're trying to I guess
some eyes and cross some te's and make sure they're
(16:01):
doing everything wrong a postponed clemency hearing they're in Georgia.
We will wait to see what happens. We were just talking.
I forgot about this roges. We're talking about last meal
requests and this guy in Georgia had a buffet that
he ordered. Part where we were talking where this history,
where the ritual come from. It's based somewhere in nineteenth century,
somewhere in Europe, where they would do this to people
(16:23):
who were condemned because they thought they were appeasing their
spirits and they wouldn't come back and haunt them.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
Essentially, you know what, that makes the most sense out
of anything.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Guilt, So like, either it's guilt we feel about what
we're about to do to you, so let's just give
you this meal, or hey, let me make sure I
don't get cursed because or haunted later because I just
killed you for me.
Speaker 3 (16:42):
That makes way more sense.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
It's about, yes, the person trying to feel better about
what they're about to do, including the entire state.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
Yes, right, we did mention. It's supposed to be forty
eight scheduled death penalty executions this year. Tomorrow would have
been forty seven. With the guy in Georgia, that one's postponed,
so now the next one would be Thursday, Florida, No kidding,
would be doing the last one of the year. If
(17:12):
that one goes through, so we would end up with
that would be the forty seventh then, but Robes for
Florida makes sense that they've had their record year, they're
going to wrap it up for the country and they'll
be the last execution of the year, blowing away their
previous record.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
Yes, this is And by the way, Florida, you have
this stat in here with nineteen executions this year. Again,
if Thursday's execution takes place, that's forty percent of the
national total this year.
Speaker 3 (17:39):
That is remarkable.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
And by the way, it looks as though this Thursday
execution is going to go forward. With Frank Wallace, he's
fifty eight years old. The Florida Supreme Court just refused
his last appeal for his execution to be stayed.
Speaker 3 (17:53):
But he did have a couple good points.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
He was nineteen at the time of the murders, and
his lawyers have argued that he's intellectually disabled. He's one
of those ones, whereas IQ is seventy two, seventy four,
and we know right now the Supreme Court had ruled
seventy was where you can be considered intellectually disabled enough
to not be eligible for execution, So he's right on
(18:16):
the margins there. But so far it looks as though
that execution is going to go forward.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
And I will pick up on that point you just
made as we want to share some some info, some
headlines from the annual report from the Death Penalty Information
Center if you don't know them, if you want to
know anything about executions in this country. Again, it's called
Death Penalty Information Center, and it is incredible source of
information that just a database of upcoming executions, past executions,
(18:42):
every state, all the history, even all of the inmates.
It really is a good resource. But they put out
their annual report robes and I'll start. We'll what you
were just saying about the Supreme Court didn't realize they
did not stay a single execution this year.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
A conservative leaning Supreme Court. I guess that shouldn't be shocking,
not one.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
I don't know what the history was previous years, but
you got forty eight. They didn't listen to one of them,
and didn't we have several where we heard dissenting voices.
We're on the Supreme Court. We're trying to step in.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
Yes, correct, the liberal leaning justices. A couple of Times
wrote some scathing descents basically to say that they disagreed
with going forward with the execution and the two that
we did see stay. Those executions that we covered were
governors intervening, the state intervening, certainly not the Supreme Court
of the United States.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
That was one of the headlines from their annual report. Also,
just the note here, twenty five executions last year we
already mentioned, forty eight were expected here in this year.
That's a huge jump. And here is the thing, where
are we on public support for the death penalty. They're
telling us now that support for the death penalties at
fifty two percent. Those who now in this country say
(19:52):
they are opposed are at forty four percent in robes.
They say that's the highest number we have seen in
some fifty years in the country.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
And do they give a reason behind it? Just maybe
there's more public information all over.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
Time, sentiment over time, people younger people are more against it. Also,
you get more and more of these high profile cases.
It goes everywhere on social media. Somebody gets off death row,
they're innocent. Those things stick.
Speaker 3 (20:19):
Look, and I think that that is a huge part
of it.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
People want to generally support the idea, but when they
start hearing the details, when they start looking into the cases.
With the availability of media and information on these murderers
from our state to state, you really can get into
these stories and really start questioning whether or not they
deserve to die, whether or not they're actually guilty of
the crimes. When people start looking at cases and seeing
(20:43):
how our justice system operates, they see the unfairness of
it in a lot of cases.
Speaker 3 (20:49):
So that's very telling.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
And this report said that maybe juries are starting to
pick up on that. They say we saw a decline
this year. Now only twenty two death sentences in the country.
I say only, but that is a decline. Also, they
say fifty six percent of juries that had the choice
of choosing life or the death penalty chose life. So
the majority of the cases that means in which a
(21:10):
jury had to decide the death penalty, the majority of
them chose to give life. In the last one here
I mentioned to you before we came on that just disturbing, chilling,
just kind of said, damn. The number of military vets executed.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
The ten military veterans executed this year, I remembered as
some of the cases we covered, looking to see that
they were military trained, that they had fought in wars.
Many of them obviously came back from those wars suffering,
and that has been a huge cry from so many
(21:45):
folks who say, hey, we do not take care of
our vets mentally. We don't consider what they've been through,
we don't consider what they've lost in defending our country,
in serving our country, and we don't take care of
their mental needs when they come back.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
There was a high historical number. I can't remember the
I can't put it in the right context, but this
was a high number historically based on previous years. And
that is that's that's that's a disproportionate representation of death
row inmates, ten out of the forty eight.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
That's so terrible with math, But what is that percentage?
Speaker 1 (22:18):
It's right, that's twenty percent. That's incredibly somebody needs to
look into that. I hope they are working on studying that.
That is disturbing to think, but that's a disproportionate number. Folks,
We look, we always appreciate you. This was something I
guess Robes we didn't intend to at the beginning of
the year, but we kind of fell into as more
(22:38):
and more cases came up, and more and more executions
were planned, and more and more, frankly, questions came up
about a lot of them. This is something we kind
of been diving into this year and followed a bunch
of a bunch of executions, and crazy as it sounds,
there was some relief the young man that these sentence
was commuted to life. It seemed like the right thing.
(23:00):
You remember the one who his brother was on Yes, yes, yes, yes,
for that crime. It's not like we're rooting for one
way or another kind of a thing. And there are
victims involved in all these but man, when it comes
to killing somebody state sanctioned and we're supposed all be
on board with this thing, it just we got to
get it right. We have to be one hundred percent correct.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
And we've said this in both of the cases where
the executions were stayed. Both of the victims families were
very much in favor of the person convicted of killing
their loved one to not die, that there was value
in their life, that there was value in them being
able to either be a cautionary tale for others or
at least helping other inmates who are going to go
(23:39):
off and live better lives, that there was value in
them living versus seeing them die. And so we've said
that seems to be something that should be considered in
every case. Let the victim's family have a say in
what happens.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
What was the sad one now I can't remember. I
think it was Florida where the guy was desperate to meet.
Speaker 3 (23:57):
He murdered his mother.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
Yeah, gas station robbery, and he ended up through letters
because he wasn't allowed to meet him. For all the
reasons why they keep safety protocols in place where victim's
family members cannot meet someone on death row who's convicted
of killing their loved one. That makes sense. But he
actually developed a relationship with this man, this inmate before
he died and was begging the governor not or at
(24:21):
least to stay his execution. But it didn't happen. That
was one of the sadder stories that we told. But
certainly I do believe, and I know you do too,
that this is something that our country has legalized, This
is still something that the majority of American support. We
should be able to talk about these stories. Should it should?
You should know how it happens. You should know what happens.
(24:43):
You should know who we're killing and why we're killing them.
It's all a part of at least bolstering what you
already believe or questioning what you think you know. Those
are both very important things to do.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
All right, folks, who will continue to keep an eye
on and update you about what happens in Florida on
Thursday as well, and again as a reminder, top right
corner of your Apple podcast app on our show page,
that button says follow click that you can subscribe and
then get our updates. And there are a plenty, it
seems these days, But for right now on behalf of
(25:15):
your robo Kim TJ. Holmes talk to you all sooner
Hey there, folks. It is Tuesday, December sixteenth, and an
execution that was scheduled for tomorrow night has been halted
with just hours to spare. You could argue, but this
doesn't mean that this death row inmates life is about
to be spared with that. Welcome to this episode of
(00:22):
Amy and t J and Robes. This is happening. A
lot is happening with executions this year, just as now
we're getting a new report that shows support for the
death penalty is at the lowest level we've seen in
fifty years, but the numbers of executions at the highest
numbers we've seen are a lot.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
That is a strange hyah, how do you make that
work shift there? Because it's interesting. You've got a state
like Florida and Governor DeSantis trying to say, hey, if
we are legalizing executions and we've sent people to death,
why are people on death row for up to four decades.
Let's get some closure and some justice for these families.
(00:57):
And so he's pushing a lot of execution forward. Number
nineteen is scheduled for later this week. But yeah, there's
been a lot of news, a lot of headlines and
a lot of questioning not just to the legality but
to the morality of what we do here in this country.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
And look, that debate will of course continue. The other
part of that's come up in a handful of cases
literally is about guilt or innocence. Correct, that we're close
to possibly condemning someone and putting someone to death, it's
something that we can't take back with some questions about
their guilt or innocence. Now, this week we were supposed
to see Rope. Yes, Christmas is next week. We were
(01:34):
wrapping up the year here in this country by getting
two more executions on the books. That would have been
the forty seventh and forty eighth if I have that correct,
I say would have been because right now one has
been halted. And this was one rogues we were keeping
an eye on in Georgia that there were some questions
they were trying to get it stopped. But now another
(01:55):
reason has popped up. But we'll tell you who we're
talking about.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
First of all, yes, we're talking about fifty two year
old Stacey See Humphreys. He was convicted in a double
murder back in two thousand and three. And yes, we've
seen his attorneys over the last couple of weeks, which
is very oftentimes the case, trying lots of different reasons
or ways to try and get this executed. Execution stayed
and he had a clemency hearing actually scheduled for today.
(02:18):
So his lawyers have been working diligently around the clock
trying to get some movement or at least trying to
stop the execution. And turns out something worked, at least temporarily.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
So well, the courts had been turning them down left
and right. They were making all kinds of arguments about
the execution. Every judge, every court has said no, no, no, no, no.
Now something else has happened. Because there was an order
issued yesterday on Monday, again this is Monday, which would
have been two days before the planned execution. This Parole
Board issued an order suspending I think that's the word
(02:54):
they use, suspending his execution scheduled for tomorrow night. They
did this and didn't really give any clarity. They didn't
explain why, but they said his execution is now on.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
Hold, correct, and his clemency hearing, which was scheduled for
today has been postponed until further notice. So they have
not said when they're going to reschedule that, and it
would appear as though you would need to have a
clemency hearing. And this was scheduled the day before his
scheduled execution. So if they can't put together the clemency hearing,
(03:31):
it makes a lot of sense why they had to
postpone his actual execution. Now here's the deal. They do
have a death warrant. I believe that was signed December third.
It was, It was signed a couple weeks ago, and
it's valid through noon on Christmas Eve.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
So they have until then.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Literally to figure out what they're doing with this clemency hearing,
which would then clear the way for the execution.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Okay, well, if you just stopped there for a second,
he's going to make it to twenty twenty six. Who's
working on Christmas week trying to kill a guy?
Speaker 2 (04:05):
And there's a lot of confusion as to what they
have to get in place in order to make this
clemency hearing fair.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
And the guy we're talking about here, this is some
pretty heinous stuff. Malice murder, that is what they called
it down in Georgia. Malice murders what he was convicted
of in two thousand and three. Killed two women, young women,
Laurie Brown who's twenty one, Cindy Williams, thirty three. OK,
if you done down in those areas, you know, model homes,
a lot of subdivisions pop up and they put it's
usually kind of not a lot of traffic, to be honest,
(04:35):
in those neighborhoods. But the couple people, a couple of
real estate agents. They were stationed in a model home
trying to sell this neighborhood. He comes in, ties them up,
forces them to strip naked, essentially tortures them so that
they will give their pen numbers to their ATM and
sure enough later thousand of dollars are taken out of
their accounts. But he killed these women, shot these two women.
(04:57):
That was the scene. So he is convicted of some
pretty horrific There's not questions at least in this about
guilt or innocence.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
No. I believe he even admitted to police early on
that he was responsible and gave an explanation that he
needed that. I think he ended up getting three thousand
dollars and he needed that money because he had taken
out some high interest loans in a new vehicle, and
so just the callousness that he would just disregard to
young women's lives Cindy Williams thirty three, Lorie Brown, twenty one,
(05:25):
because he needed some cash to pay off some loans
that he had taken on irresponsibly. That's about as disgusting
as it gets.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
So a lot of routes they tried, at least his
legal team in the courts failed, failed, failed every time
along the way. But this is why now it appears
he had a shot to survive. I guess Robes just
passed tomorrow because the reasons now it's been halted don't
necessarily point to his innocence or a court action. This
(05:56):
seems Robes, it seems to me just a delay. Is
not fair to say this is just a dela.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
It seems as though this is inevitable.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
It is almost certainly going to happen, because, yes, it's
not a question of guilt or innocence. It's not a
question as to whether or not he received a fair trial.
It's not a question about anything that Typically we would
see execution stayed for and a life in prison sentence
imposed in lieu of an execution.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
That is not this case.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
This is about a parole board, which is comprised of
five members, and he would need three of those board
members to say and to vote for clemency for him
to have a shot at not being executed on Wednesday,
which was when he was originally scheduled for. But now
two of those members, they claim his lawyer's team claim,
(06:42):
have a conflict of interest in making their decision.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
So yes, if two of the five needs to recuse themselves,
then there's only three people left on the board to vote.
His attorneys arguing he has the right to a full
five members, and that is why we have a delay.
They're trying to figure out how much time do we
get to possibly get two more in there. There are
folks from the state who are arguing there's nothing that
(07:08):
says he is legally has the right to five people
three can vote, So that is the hold up. But
it does appear at least right now he is going
to live to I don't know, to fight another day.
But he is going to get to live another day
because it is the understanding he is going to get
a clemency hearing. When can you put this together quickly enough?
(07:31):
The judge say, quickly enough. Now just the three is fine,
and then where's everybody going on for Christmas? What's happening?
And clock is ticking. We got to kill this guy
before Santa Coms is what we're up against in Georgia.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
It's a a cob deadline this time of year certainly
to even consider. But yes, I mean it looked as though,
I mean, it was curious to me that the parole
board decided to go ahead, maybe just out of an
abundance of caution, to just go ahead and say, let's
just put this on pause, because it does seem as
though the three members would be enough, according to state
law for him to get a fair shake at clemency,
(08:03):
to have those three members say yes or no.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Would you want the five though if you're like.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
Of course you would, of course you would yes.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
And maybe you take inventory. Maybe the two that got
dumped off weren't even fans of yours in the first place.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
The interesting thing is the one of the of the
board members actually recused herself. She recognized that there could
be an appearance of impropriety, even though she said I
would be able to make this. She was a victim's
advocate at the same time surrounding his case, so she
had personal ties to the case. The other member was,
I believe, the acting sheriff in the county where his
(08:36):
trial was moved to.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
And so he's saying.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Look, if he oversaw protecting the jurors and protecting people
who were a part of the trial, that maybe he
would have an unfair view of this man and what
he did because he was connected to the case on
a level where he was dealing with jurors and potentially victims, etc.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
Look, when we've said plenty of times here, if this
is a matter of killing someone, why not take your
time in the final days and weeks to get it right.
And so if they're getting it right, that's fine, But
it is fascinating Robes to imagine that they are up
against the clock in Georgia. If we want to kill
this guy, we need to do it before everybody goes
(09:18):
to sleep on Christmas Eve, like the death ways noon, right,
and on Christmas Eve is when it expired. That's just
so he is waiting to if he makes it to
Christmas Eve at noon, he'll survive to the need. That
is macab That is just Look, the crime is horrific.
This is not what we're doing, but we are. This
is state sanctioned killing that we're doing here, and so
(09:41):
it just something about that just feels icky as hell.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Yes, and look, he's I know this sounds crazy, but
he's been on death row. I at least these crime,
this crime happened twenty two years ago, compared to some
of the time. We've seen plenty of inmates this year
who ended up being executed on death row.
Speaker 3 (09:57):
We were talking three decades, even four decades.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
I remember thirty seven years on one. Do you remember one?
Speaker 2 (10:02):
Worse more, there was in forty something years I believe
one of them this year. So yes, it was the
one where the father of the child who was killed
actually perished. Three judges perished, like everyone involved in the
trial had died, and he was waiting. It was forty
something years, so yes, twenty two years. What's another month
(10:22):
or two to make sure that this is done correctly.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
Well, he was one you and I had planned we
were going to do a preview of this execution. Look,
because of a lot of the legal things that had
come up, but also it is always a public fascination
with the final meal, and it's bizarre to a certain degree,
but it's also understandable. It's human nature to it's something
we can't relate to. We don't know what that's like,
(10:49):
and it's kind of related in, kind of steeped in
religion as well. A last meal, a final supper kind
of a thing, and some argue it's just something we
use to make the public feel better about what we're
about to do.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
I was just going to say it, does it relieve
some guilt that we give these the worst of the worst,
these notorious killers, who've been convicted of the most heinous crimes,
that somehow we give them one last little bit of
pleasure before we kill them, That somehow that makes us
feel better about what we're doing. I don't know, but yeah,
we were going to do an entire podcast on last
(11:22):
meals because this particular inmate, Stacy Humphries, was making headlines
for what he was requesting and what it seemed as
though the Department of Corrections in Georgia was going to
give him.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
Have you seen one more a bigger one, or more
fascinating one than this one? We've seen a lot over
the years, not just this year, but I can't remember
one quite like that.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
This was the most jaw dropping last meal request I
have seen, and.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
One that it seemed as though the date was going
to honor just because of its size. It was. I
guess gludness is how a lot of people would have
put it.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
And OBEs, yes, described he's a large man six two
three hundred pounds or so, so but his even still
his last meal request was a lot. So here's what
actually Georgia put out as his last meal. Barbecue, beef brisket,
pork ribs, bacon, double cheese, burger, french fries, coleslaw, cornbread,
(12:19):
buffalo wings, meat lover's pan, pizza, vanilla ice cream, and
two lemon lime sodas.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
Have you ever seen anything like that?
Speaker 1 (12:28):
Oh? H and haven't seen anyone? I mean, good for him,
he's not going out with the steak tartar, I mean,
why the hell? I mean, go crazy And that last
moment's almost like he's trying to eat himself to death
before the execution. But that's incredible. If they are, they
put it out there. Maybe they will, and some will argue,
why are we given anybody any comfort in the last
(12:48):
second given what they have done? I don't know. Maybe
because we're supposed to be better than they are. Maybe
because we're supposed to be a little decent, a little human.
I don't know what Georgia's rules are, but rules I
didn't realize stay vary on how much they will let
them get away with, but generally it seems like they
like to make these requests happen. I don't know Georgia's
(13:10):
limit on the cost. Florida has a forty dollars one.
I think a couple other states have a fifteen or
twenty five dollars one, but I don't know if it's unlimited.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
I think we need to do a podcast on this, because,
I mean, I don't know why. It's fascinating, but it
is to see what we're willing to spend, what length
we're willing to go to do we order out from restaurants?
Does it have to be made within a prison kitchen?
As you point out, different states have different rules, and
this one is exceptional.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
And of course in the middle of this, Texas obviously
on last meals, they have by far executed more people
than any other state since the death penalty was reinstated
in nineteen seventy six. They stopped this robes legislation. Some
state centator got pissed because a death row inmate ordered
some big, extravagant meal and didn't need it, so it
(13:59):
was a waste. Came back. They have passed legislation you
do not get a last meal in Texas. I get that,
though it's cafeteria food is the standard thing. Some people
do will say that makes sense. Some people hear that
I didn't know about this, like, oh.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
Well, look, if you're going to stand by your death
penalty and stand by the executions of convicted killers, then
I understand with that same reasoning in mind, why would
you give them some sort of pleasure before you kill them?
Did they afford that to their victims. I'm sure that's
not the case, But I was going to ask, could
(14:35):
any human being eat all of that food? First of all,
I wouldn't even have an appetite if I were about
to be executed.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
That's why they said the guy in Texas didn't eat.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
Yeah, because I get that when I'm stressed or upset
or nervous or anxious, I cannot.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
Eat one more note there. Some states have gone to
given the meal a day or two ahead of time,
not on the day, because obviously they wouldn't have appetime.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
Yeah, that seems remarkable and yes, all of this food.
I I could have been starved in the desert for
two weeks and I couldn't finish half of that, So
that seems excessive. And that's why I'm just curious why
Georgia put that out there and said here's what he's
asking for, and they didn't say they weren't going to
give it to him. I just thought that was maybe
they were testing to see what public reaction would be like.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
I don't know, but it was baffling.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
All right, Well, folks, stay with us here because as
we wrap up this year, one of the primary resources,
a great resource for all the information having to do
with executions here in the United States. They have put
out their annual report and it's pretty shocking to see
how the numbers of executions have gone up so much,
but the number of people supporting the death penalty has
(15:40):
gone down. Stay here, all right, We continue here on
Amy and TJ talking about the execution in Georgia that
has now been postponed. As they're trying to I guess
some eyes and cross some te's and make sure they're
(16:01):
doing everything wrong a postponed clemency hearing they're in Georgia.
We will wait to see what happens. We were just talking.
I forgot about this roges. We're talking about last meal
requests and this guy in Georgia had a buffet that
he ordered. Part where we were talking where this history,
where the ritual come from. It's based somewhere in nineteenth century,
somewhere in Europe, where they would do this to people
(16:23):
who were condemned because they thought they were appeasing their
spirits and they wouldn't come back and haunt them.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
Essentially, you know what, that makes the most sense out
of anything.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Guilt, So like, either it's guilt we feel about what
we're about to do to you, so let's just give
you this meal, or hey, let me make sure I
don't get cursed because or haunted later because I just
killed you for me.
Speaker 3 (16:42):
That makes way more sense.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
It's about, yes, the person trying to feel better about
what they're about to do, including the entire state.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
Yes, right, we did mention. It's supposed to be forty
eight scheduled death penalty executions this year. Tomorrow would have
been forty seven. With the guy in Georgia, that one's postponed,
so now the next one would be Thursday, Florida, No kidding,
would be doing the last one of the year. If
(17:12):
that one goes through, so we would end up with
that would be the forty seventh then, but Robes for
Florida makes sense that they've had their record year, they're
going to wrap it up for the country and they'll
be the last execution of the year, blowing away their
previous record.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
Yes, this is And by the way, Florida, you have
this stat in here with nineteen executions this year. Again,
if Thursday's execution takes place, that's forty percent of the
national total this year.
Speaker 3 (17:39):
That is remarkable.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
And by the way, it looks as though this Thursday
execution is going to go forward. With Frank Wallace, he's
fifty eight years old. The Florida Supreme Court just refused
his last appeal for his execution to be stayed.
Speaker 3 (17:53):
But he did have a couple good points.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
He was nineteen at the time of the murders, and
his lawyers have argued that he's intellectually disabled. He's one
of those ones, whereas IQ is seventy two, seventy four,
and we know right now the Supreme Court had ruled
seventy was where you can be considered intellectually disabled enough
to not be eligible for execution, So he's right on
(18:16):
the margins there. But so far it looks as though
that execution is going to go forward.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
And I will pick up on that point you just
made as we want to share some some info, some
headlines from the annual report from the Death Penalty Information
Center if you don't know them, if you want to
know anything about executions in this country. Again, it's called
Death Penalty Information Center, and it is incredible source of
information that just a database of upcoming executions, past executions,
(18:42):
every state, all the history, even all of the inmates.
It really is a good resource. But they put out
their annual report robes and I'll start. We'll what you
were just saying about the Supreme Court didn't realize they
did not stay a single execution this year.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
A conservative leaning Supreme Court. I guess that shouldn't be shocking,
not one.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
I don't know what the history was previous years, but
you got forty eight. They didn't listen to one of them,
and didn't we have several where we heard dissenting voices.
We're on the Supreme Court. We're trying to step in.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
Yes, correct, the liberal leaning justices. A couple of Times
wrote some scathing descents basically to say that they disagreed
with going forward with the execution and the two that
we did see stay. Those executions that we covered were
governors intervening, the state intervening, certainly not the Supreme Court
of the United States.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
That was one of the headlines from their annual report. Also,
just the note here, twenty five executions last year we
already mentioned, forty eight were expected here in this year.
That's a huge jump. And here is the thing, where
are we on public support for the death penalty. They're
telling us now that support for the death penalties at
fifty two percent. Those who now in this country say
(19:52):
they are opposed are at forty four percent in robes.
They say that's the highest number we have seen in
some fifty years in the country.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
And do they give a reason behind it? Just maybe
there's more public information all over.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
Time, sentiment over time, people younger people are more against it. Also,
you get more and more of these high profile cases.
It goes everywhere on social media. Somebody gets off death row,
they're innocent. Those things stick.
Speaker 3 (20:19):
Look, and I think that that is a huge part
of it.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
People want to generally support the idea, but when they
start hearing the details, when they start looking into the cases.
With the availability of media and information on these murderers
from our state to state, you really can get into
these stories and really start questioning whether or not they
deserve to die, whether or not they're actually guilty of
the crimes. When people start looking at cases and seeing
(20:43):
how our justice system operates, they see the unfairness of
it in a lot of cases.
Speaker 3 (20:49):
So that's very telling.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
And this report said that maybe juries are starting to
pick up on that. They say we saw a decline
this year. Now only twenty two death sentences in the country.
I say only, but that is a decline. Also, they
say fifty six percent of juries that had the choice
of choosing life or the death penalty chose life. So
the majority of the cases that means in which a
(21:10):
jury had to decide the death penalty, the majority of
them chose to give life. In the last one here
I mentioned to you before we came on that just disturbing, chilling,
just kind of said, damn. The number of military vets executed.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
The ten military veterans executed this year, I remembered as
some of the cases we covered, looking to see that
they were military trained, that they had fought in wars.
Many of them obviously came back from those wars suffering,
and that has been a huge cry from so many
(21:45):
folks who say, hey, we do not take care of
our vets mentally. We don't consider what they've been through,
we don't consider what they've lost in defending our country,
in serving our country, and we don't take care of
their mental needs when they come back.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
There was a high historical number. I can't remember the
I can't put it in the right context, but this
was a high number historically based on previous years. And
that is that's that's that's a disproportionate representation of death
row inmates, ten out of the forty eight.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
That's so terrible with math, But what is that percentage?
Speaker 1 (22:18):
It's right, that's twenty percent. That's incredibly somebody needs to
look into that. I hope they are working on studying that.
That is disturbing to think, but that's a disproportionate number. Folks,
We look, we always appreciate you. This was something I
guess Robes we didn't intend to at the beginning of
the year, but we kind of fell into as more
(22:38):
and more cases came up, and more and more executions
were planned, and more and more, frankly, questions came up
about a lot of them. This is something we kind
of been diving into this year and followed a bunch
of a bunch of executions, and crazy as it sounds,
there was some relief the young man that these sentence
was commuted to life. It seemed like the right thing.
(23:00):
You remember the one who his brother was on Yes, yes, yes, yes,
for that crime. It's not like we're rooting for one
way or another kind of a thing. And there are
victims involved in all these but man, when it comes
to killing somebody state sanctioned and we're supposed all be
on board with this thing, it just we got to
get it right. We have to be one hundred percent correct.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
And we've said this in both of the cases where
the executions were stayed. Both of the victims families were
very much in favor of the person convicted of killing
their loved one to not die, that there was value
in their life, that there was value in them being
able to either be a cautionary tale for others or
at least helping other inmates who are going to go
(23:39):
off and live better lives, that there was value in
them living versus seeing them die. And so we've said
that seems to be something that should be considered in
every case. Let the victim's family have a say in
what happens.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
What was the sad one now I can't remember. I
think it was Florida where the guy was desperate to meet.
Speaker 3 (23:57):
He murdered his mother.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
Yeah, gas station robbery, and he ended up through letters
because he wasn't allowed to meet him. For all the
reasons why they keep safety protocols in place where victim's
family members cannot meet someone on death row who's convicted
of killing their loved one. That makes sense. But he
actually developed a relationship with this man, this inmate before
he died and was begging the governor not or at
(24:21):
least to stay his execution. But it didn't happen. That
was one of the sadder stories that we told. But
certainly I do believe, and I know you do too,
that this is something that our country has legalized, This
is still something that the majority of American support. We
should be able to talk about these stories. Should it should?
You should know how it happens. You should know what happens.
(24:43):
You should know who we're killing and why we're killing them.
It's all a part of at least bolstering what you
already believe or questioning what you think you know. Those
are both very important things to do.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
All right, folks, who will continue to keep an eye
on and update you about what happens in Florida on
Thursday as well, and again as a reminder, top right
corner of your Apple podcast app on our show page,
that button says follow click that you can subscribe and
then get our updates. And there are a plenty, it
seems these days, But for right now on behalf of
(25:15):
your robo Kim TJ. Holmes talk to you all sooner
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Betrayal: Weekly
Betrayal Weekly is back for a brand new season. Every Thursday, Betrayal Weekly shares first-hand accounts of broken trust, shocking deceptions, and the trail of destruction they leave behind. Hosted by Andrea Gunning, this weekly ongoing series digs into real-life stories of betrayal and the aftermath. From stories of double lives to dark discoveries, these are cautionary tales and accounts of resilience against all odds. From the producers of the critically acclaimed Betrayal series, Betrayal Weekly drops new episodes every Thursday. Please join our Substack for additional exclusive content, curated book recommendations and community discussions. Sign up FREE by clicking this link Beyond Betrayal Substack. Join our community dedicated to truth, resilience and healing. Your voice matters! Be a part of our Betrayal journey on Substack. And make sure to check out Seasons 1-4 of Betrayal, along with Betrayal Weekly Season 1.