Philadelphia, Pa., Oct 1, 2012 / 14:52 pm
A Philadelphia judge stayed the execution of Terrance Williams last Friday, and his case will now go to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
The Pennsylvania bishops wrote to the Board of Pardons regarding Williams in September, saying that "the modern penal system provides alternatives to taking the lives of guilty persons, alternatives that break the cycle of violence in our society."
On Sept. 28, Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina issued the stay after hearing testimony that the trial prosecutor misled the jury in Williams' case, withholding evidence that could have resulted in a sentence of life imprisonment, rather than the death penalty.
Williams was to have been executed Oct. 3. Now that the Philadelphia district attorney has appealed Judge Sarmina's decision, the case will go to the state's supreme court. If they reaffirm the execution, the governor will have to set a new execution date.