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Amnon J. Jobi

Indiana Supreme Court denies stay of execution for Joseph Corcoran

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Indiana Supreme Court on Thursday denied a stay of the execution of Joseph Corcoran.

Corcoran on Dec. 18 faces death by lethal injection after a jury found him guilty in the July 26, 1997 shooting deaths of four men in Fort Wayne. The men included his brother, James Corcoran, 30; his sister’s fiancé, Robert Turner, 32; and two friends of James, Timothy Bricker, 30, and Doug Stillwell.

The 49-year-old would be the first Indiana death row inmate executed since 2009.

Corcoran’s attorneys have argued he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and “cannot distinguish between reality and his delusions and hallucinations.”

State attorneys argued that Indiana’s Supreme Court “has never held that our constitution prohibits the execution of a person based on a mere allegation of ‘severe mental illness.’”

Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb and Attorney General Todd Rokita in June asked the Indiana Supreme Court to set an execution date for Corcoran, saying his appeals had been exhausted and that the state had obtained the necessary drugs to carry out a lethal injection. The lack of the drugs had delayed executions in Indiana for years.

The Indiana Supreme Court’s order said, in part, “Having considered the matter before us, the ‘Motion[s] for Stay of Execution’ and the petitions seeking permission to litigate successive post-conviction relief claims are DENIED. The Court will promptly issue a written opinion explaining its reasons.”

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