The Ohio Attorney General's Office was preparing its appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday to defend its lethal injection procedures against a federal court decision that halted an execution planned for Wednesday.
"We are all saddened that the execution will not occur this week but we've got to look at the big picture here and we believe that we are doing that," Deputy Attorney General Stephen Schumaker said.
Schumaker said that filing the appeal to the U.S. Supreme court concerning the execution of Charles Lorraine is a priority, but there is no real timetable for it, ONN's Denise Alex reported.
The family of Raymond and Doris Montgomery have been waiting for the day for 25 years.
""He stabbed Doris eight times, nine times, cut her throat," she said. "He stabbed Raymond five times. That's not cruel, that's not punishment? They knew it was happening, you know that was painful," said Lynda Couch, great niece of victims.
Wednesday's planned execution of 45-year-old Charles Lorraine was halted last week by U.S. District Court Judge Gregory Frost, who said Ohio's corrections department had once again failed to follow its own rules for executions.
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with the ruling, prompting the Attorney General and Gov. John Kasich to take the case to the Supreme Court.
Frost said that Ohio failed to document the drugs used in its most recent execution in November and failed to review the medical chart of the inmate who was put to death.
"Judge Frost has made good points, they need to be paid attention to but I don't think it rises to the level of not equal protection for these folks," Kasich said.
Lynda Couch said that she agreed.
Couch helped care for her elderly great-aunt and uncle, 80-year-old Doris Montgomery and 76-year-old Raymond Montgomery and found their bodies in their Warren home in May, 1986.
Her frustration with the judicial system has gone on for decades.
"You do the crime, you do the punishment," Couch said.
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