COLUMBIA, S.C. — The Supreme Court of South Carolina has scheduled the next execution date for January 31, pausing proceedings to accommodate the Christmas season. The state is currently managing a backlog of death row inmates who have exhausted their appeals but have been granted a temporary delay due to difficulties in acquiring the drugs necessary for lethal injection.
Marion Bowman Jr., aged 44, is on death row for the 2001 murder of Kandee Martin, whose charred remains were discovered in the trunk of her vehicle in Dorchester County. Despite his conviction, Bowman’s defense team asserted his innocence and argued that executing him would be “unconscionable” due to lingering doubts regarding the integrity of his conviction. If executed, Bowman would become the third inmate to experience lethal injection since September, following the state’s successful acquisition of the required drugs for capital punishment. Inmates also have the option to select electrocution or the newly introduced firing squad as methods of execution. Furthermore, three additional inmates are awaiting execution dates, which the Supreme Court has slated to be spaced five weeks apart.
Initially, the court could have selected a date for Bowman’s execution as early as December 6. However, the justices accepted a request from legal representatives of the four inmates designated for execution to halt proceedings until January, without offering any commentary. In the court documentation, attorneys expressed concern about the psychological impact of executing six inmates in a short period, especially during a season significant to many families.
State attorneys contended that prison officials were prepared to proceed with the previously arranged schedule, noting that South Carolina has conducted executions during the holiday season in the past, including five executed between December 4, 1998, and January 8, 1999. Once a leading state in executing death row inmates, South Carolina’s rate of executions dramatically decreased when pharmaceutical companies became hesitant to supply lethal injection drugs due to fears about disclosing their involvement. Subsequently, the state has enacted legislation to ensure the confidentiality of suppliers, and earlier this year, the Supreme Court permitted the resumption of executions.
Freddie Owens was executed by lethal injection on September 20, followed by Richard Moore on November 1. Inmates on death row may seek clemency from Governor Henry McMaster, though historically, governors in South Carolina have never commuted a death sentence to life imprisonment without parole since the death penalty’s modern inception.
As of next week, the state’s prison director must confirm that lethal injection, electrocution, and firing squad methods are available for Bowman’s execution. The last individual executed by firing squad in the U.S. was in Utah in 2010, according to reports from advocacy groups.
Bowman has spent over half of his life on death row, having been found guilty of murdering 21-year-old Kandee Martin. Testimony against him came from various friends and family members, many of whom received reduced sentences in exchange for their cooperation. Witnesses claimed Bowman was motivated by financial grievances and fears of being incriminated.
Earlier this year, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union seeking permission to broadcast a podcast from Bowman as part of a clemency pursuit, a decision that is currently under appeal. In South Carolina’s correctional facilities, on-camera, in-person interviews with inmates are prohibited, along with the recording of their phone conversations.
Bowman’s legal team has petitioned the South Carolina Supreme Court to delay his execution to allow for hearings regarding claims of ineffective legal representation during his trial. They argue that his defense attorney was inadequately prepared and demonstrated bias that favored the white victim over the Black defendant.
Defense counsel has accused his prior attorney of pressuring him to plead guilty and making strategic decisions influenced by racial prejudices rather than sound legal judgment, as stated by Lindsey S. Vann, the executive director of Justice 360, which advocates for inmates. Vann mentioned that Bowman’s conviction rested on unreliable, incentivized testimonies from witnesses who received leniency in exchange for their cooperation.
Since the reintroduction of the death penalty in the U.S. in 1976, South Carolina has executed 45 inmates. In the early 2000s, the state averaged approximately three executions annually, with nine states having executed more individuals. However, since the recent cease in executions, the population on South Carolina’s death row has decreased, from 63 condemned inmates in early 2011 to currently 30. This reduction resulted from various inmates successfully appealing their sentences, while others have passed away from natural causes.