The Supreme Court of Mississippi rejected the most recent attempt of a man imprisoned for the past three decades to reverse his death penalty punishment.
Willie Jerome Manning has been in jail, on death row, for the past 30 years. He was convicted of a double homicide after murdering two college students. The decision was made by a 5-4 majority opinion on Monday September 16. The Court wrote that Manning had “had his days in court” and declined to prolong the case.
Justices who dissented the opinion argued that a witness who wanted to rescind his testimony against the 56-year-old convict should have his case heard in a hearing by a trial court. As for Manning’s legal team, this is not the first time that they have attempted to reverse his punishment.
The 1992 murders of Jon Steckler and Tiffany Miller, both students at Mississippi State University, were solved in 1994, when Manning was convicted. The suspect was caught by police while he tried to sell items that used to belong to his victims. In November 2023, after Manning’s legal team called for a re-examination of evidence, the court delayed setting an execution date.
However, now that the Supreme Court has denied his latest appeal, Manning could have an execution date within the next month. That is, unless further legal challenges prevent the case from moving forward. The suspect’s attorney said on Tuesday September 17 that a rehearing would be requested.
According to defense attorney Krissy Nobile, the ruling from the Supreme Court did not pay attention to “newly discovered evidence” that came with the “recantation of several key witnesses.” One witness reportedly said—in a sworn statement—that she was given over $17,000 to provide false testimony.
Nobile argued that, with this revelation, there is “no evidence against” her client, including fingerprints and DNA, which connects him to the victims. Michael Randolph, the court’s chief justice, refuted this argument in the opinion he wrote, which said that Manning has exceeded a “full measure of justice.”
