The Indiana Parole Board will hold clemency hearings later this month for death row inmate Roy Lee Ward, whose execution is scheduled for Oct. 10 at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City.
The board announced this week that the five-member panel will conduct a clemency interview hearing at the prison on Friday, Sept. 19 at 10 a.m. Central Time.
A public clemency hearing will follow on Monday, Sept. 22, at the Indiana Government Center South Auditorium in Indianapolis. Testimony in support of clemency will be allowed from 9 to 11 a.m., followed by testimony in opposition from 1 to 3 p.m.
Ward, 44, was sentenced to death after he pleaded guilty to the 2001 rape and murder of 15-year-old Stacy Payne in Spencer County. His case has played out through state and federal courts for more than two decades. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case in 2017.
In late August, the Indiana Supreme Court finalized his October execution date after denying his latest appeal.
The clemency process is one of the final steps available for prisoners to avoid a death sentence.
The Parole Board hears arguments from attorneys, victims’ families and execution supporters before issuing a recommendation to the governor.
The governor alone has the power to commute a death sentence to life in prison, grant a reprieve or deny clemency altogether.
Earlier this year, the board followed the same process for another death row inmate, Benjamin Ritchie, ahead of his scheduled execution. Following several hours of hearings, the parole board ultimately — unanimously — recommended against clemency for Benjamin Ritchie, and Gov. Mike Braun allowed his execution to proceed.
Ward’s legal counsel is continuing to raise questions about Indiana’s lethal injection procedures and has repeatedly pressed for records detailing the state’s supply of pentobarbital — the drug used in executions — especially about its quality and whether it has expired.
The inmate’s defense team said they also plan to pursue additional legal challenges in state and federal courts in the weeks leading up to the execution.
Braun said earlier this month that Indiana’s Department of Correction does not yet have the necessary execution drugs in hand.
When asked about the state’s drug supply, the governor reiterated that Indiana is taking steps to ensure doses do not expire before use.
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