WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The Texas Court of Appeals has halted the execution of death row inmate Clifton Lamar Williams on Thursday just hours before he was set to be killed.
“This is a subsequent application for a writ of habeas corpus filed pursuant to the provisions of Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 11.071 § 5 and a motion for a stay of execution,” the Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas order read on Thursday.
The Court of Appeals said that it approved William’s appeal application, which is now returned to a trial court for a review on its merits before a final decision is determined.
Currently, Texas tops the list of US states carrying out executions with 526 people killed since 1976. The number of people executed in Texas is nearly a third of all executions carried out in the United States since 1976.
Meanwhile, 19 US states and the District of Columbia have banned death penalty, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
