COVINGTON, Ky. (AP) - A Kentucky judge on Wednesday denied two
requests to halt the impending execution of an inmate convicted of
murder and rape, saying the arguments were too flimsy to support a
stay.
Kenton Circuit Judge Gregory Bartlett ruled that there was
"overwhelming evidence" of Gregory L. Wilson's guilt and said
that a DNA test of two decade-old evidence wouldn't prove his
innocence.
Bartlett also didn't find enough evidence to support a claim
that Wilson, 53, is mentally retarded. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled
in 2002 that executing the mentally retarded is unconstitutional.
Wilson, an Ohio native, is scheduled to die by lethal injection
Sept. 16. He was convicted of raping and murdering popular
restaurant employee Deborah Pooley. A co-defendant in the case,
Brenda Humphrey, is serving a life sentence.
Wilson and Humphrey forced Pooley, an Ohio woman who was then
living in northern Kentucky, into the back seat of her car on May
29, 1987. Wilson raped and later strangled her while Humphrey
drove.
Wilson's attorneys from the Louisville public defender's office
argued that an IQ test given to their client in 1971 showed an IQ
of 62, well below the legal marker for mental retardation of 70.
They also argued that bodily fluids collected from the crime scene,
as well as the car used, have never been DNA tested.
The judge found both requests lacking, calling Wilson's school
records a "fairly thin offer of evidence."
Wilson's attorneys indicated after the hearing they planned to
appeal to the Kentucky Supreme Court.
Defense attorney Leo Smith argued that hair and bodily fluids
were used to bolster the credibility of the co-defendant and a
snitch. While the hair is now missing, the bodily fluids are
available and have never been tested.
"It was critical to the Commonwealth's case," Smith said.
Assistant Attorney General Heather Fryman told the judge that
Wilson used Pooley's credit cards in multiple states after the
murder. The bodily fluids and other evidence, even if they don't
match Wilson, wouldn't make a difference, she said.
"It still doesn't prove he didn't murder Ms. Pooley," Fryman
said.
Wilson has also intervened in a separate case brought by three
other death row inmates challenging the way Kentucky adopted the
lethal injection protocol.
The attorney in that case, public defender David Barron, has
asked a judge in Frankfort to enforce an injunction halting all
executions the Kentucky Supreme Court. A hearing has been set for
Sept. 8.
The high court stopped executions in November because the
protocol was not adopted properly, but the state has since
readopted the three-drug protocol.

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