It’s an execution that the victim’s family fought to keep from happening. But with a stay granted by the courts, James, 50, will be executed at 6 p.m. at the William C. Holman Correctional Center in Atmore. The prison is where the state’s death row inmates are housed and is the only state facility with an execution chamber. UPDATE 12:45 p.m.: James, in a motion filed with the help of a lawyer, asked the US Supreme Court to stay his execution. He cites three things: That the victim’s family, her two daughters and brother, no longer want his execution. that the execution would violate the First Amendment rights of the victims; and that as a practicing Muslim his execution would violate his First Amendment rights and quotes a passage from the Koran “2:178: All you who believe in the law of equality in cases of murder—a free man for a free man, a slave for a slave, and a woman for a woman. But if any remission be made of the brother of the slain, then grant any reasonable demand, and thank with handsome gratitude. This is a concession and a mercy from your Lord. After that, anyone who exceeds these limits will be severely punished. In the law of equality there is saving life for you, O men of understanding to hold back.’ This story will be updated throughout the day and into the evening with information on James’ case. Original story continues below. James was convicted twice of murder for shooting Faith Hall inside her friend’s Birmingham apartment on Aug. 15, 1994. Hall was James’ ex-girlfriend, who court records say he stalked and harassed after they broke up. In a flurry of court depositions in the weeks and days before his scheduled execution, James argued that the state could not kill him because he had pending court cases. He also claimed that he wanted to change his execution method to nitrogen hypoxia instead of lethal injection. There is still no state-sanctioned procedure for death by nitrogen hypoxia, and there have been no executions by the method in the United States. In 2018, Governor Kay Ivey signed a bill giving inmates the option of execution by hypoxia. According to the state, inmates awaiting execution were allowed to choose the nitrogen method if they wished, but they had to do so within a 30-day period in June 2018. Of the 177 inmates on Alabama’s Death Row, about 50 prisoners at the time chose to die by the new method. Over the years, several others have filed lawsuits challenging the opt-in period. By Tuesday afternoon, the Southern District Court of Alabama had dismissed two of James’ lawsuits, and the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had also declined to grant a stay. A Jefferson County judge also dismissed a Rule 32 appeal this week. Late Wednesday, an attorney who represented James in his case in Jefferson County — the only recent case in which he did not represent himself — filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court. The petition requests a stay of execution. Also Wednesday, Gov. Kay Ivey refused to commute James’ sentence. Faith Hall, 26, was killed in August 1994. Her killer is to be executed this week. (Photo courtesy of Toni Melton) The murder of Faith Hall Hall was 26 and had two children: Toni Hall Melton, who was 3 when her mother died, and Teryln Hall, who was 6. Her surviving brother Helvetius Hall was 24. “I had 24 sweet, good years with her,” Helvetius Hall said. “He was my rock. She was always there (for me), day or night, for her brother.” “My sister had a heart of gold.” Read more: ‘A heart of gold’: Family remembers Alabama woman as her killer faces execution Court records show that in the year before Hall’s death, there were three police reports of harassment and one burglary filed by Hall and her grandmother against James. Reports say James was threatening to kill Hall, breaking into their home and destroying things, banging on windows, calling constantly, sitting in the driveway and more. According to court records, Hall was shopping with a friend the day of her murder and returned to the friend’s apartment. When the couple got out of their car, they noticed James following them. The women ran into the apartment, with Hall’s friend alerting a neighbor to James’ presence. James burst through the door, which the women were trying to block, armed with a gun. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals order described the shooting: “James demanded to know about a man he had seen with (Hall), while (Hall) … asked him to put the gun away—which he did, briefly. After a few minutes, however, James said “fk this st”, pulled out his gun and started shooting. (Hall) ran to the bathroom and James chased after her. James shot (Hall) three times: once in the abdomen, once in the arm and chest, and once in the top of the head, apparently after he had fallen to the floor. She died of her gunshot wounds.” Hall’s children were at the southwest Birmingham home they shared with their mom, great-grandmother and uncle when the family learned of Hall’s murder. “It was just chaos,” Tony said. Since James’ execution date was set by the Alabama Supreme Court earlier this summer, Hall’s daughters and brother have been vocal about their wishes for James to be saved. They called on state officials to commute James’ sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole. “If you told me to execute him I would bring my mom back… but she won’t come back,” Tony said. “You take his life away, you don’t bring it back. You are doing this to another family… This is not justice at all.” Alabama Rep. Juandalynn Givan, who was friends with Hall, released a letter to Gov. Kay Ivey last week calling for the change. A spokesman for Ivey said Tuesday afternoon, “As with any execution, Governor Ivey will carefully review the facts and information surrounding the case.” On Wednesday, Ivey told reporters that the decision had been made. “My staff and I have investigated all the records and all the facts. And there’s no reason to change the process or alter the outcome, so the execution will go ahead,” he said. Legal arguments Court records show James was first convicted of the murder, a capital offense committed during a burglary, in August 1996 and sentenced to death. Two years later, a jury overturned his conviction and sentence, due to hearsay being admitted into evidence. In 1999, James was again convicted of murder and sentenced to death. The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals upheld James’ conviction in 2010. The Alabama Supreme Court declined to review James’ case in 2017. James appealed to a federal appeals court, arguing that his attorneys were ineffective during the sentencing phase of the second trial. because they failed to investigate or present evidence on his behalf. In April 2020, the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld James’ conviction. The court’s published opinion said James “has not shown a reasonable possibility that his counsel’s performance affected the outcome of his sentencing proceeding.” The Alabama Attorney General’s Office asked the Alabama Supreme Court to set an execution date for James in March. Court records show the U.S. Supreme Court denied James’ petition for certiorari, or a request to review his case, in 2001. The high court also declined to hear the case in March 2021. The latest federal appeals court order denying his claims explained James’ summer testimony as follows: “On the eve of his execution…James filed two separate…complaints in the Southern District of Alabama. In (one case) James claimed that the Alabama Attorney General violated the Equal Protection Clause by setting his execution date before the execution dates of other similarly situated death row inmates represented by the federal public defender’s office. In (the other case) James argued that five state officials violated the Due Process Clause by issuing and serving the warrant in violation of Alabama law. The district court issued two orders. In case (one) the district court denied James’ motion to stay his execution. And, in case (two), the district court denied James’ motion for a stay of execution and dismissed his complaint for failure to state a claim. James is appealing both orders and has moved for a stay of execution. After careful consideration of the record and the parties’ cases, we affirm the district court’s orders and deny his motion for a stay.”
