A U.S. district judge on Monday ordered a new delay in federal executions, hours before the first lethal injection was scheduled to be carried out at the federal prison in Terre Haute.
We're staying "on top of breaking news"..
As the plans "for federal executions"..
Continue to evolve.
"the federal government"..
Set "3"-executions "for this week" here in terre haute.
The 1st... is set "for today".
We've been following "legal motions" back-and-forth.
Only "1"-side of protestors..
Showed-up "to protest today".
"these protestors" were "against" "federal execution" ///// "we believe strongly that the death penalty really should be abolished."
////// good afternoon to you.
I'm susan dinkel.
"rondrell moore" is on assignment.
It's monday, july 13th.
////// we continue "our live team coverage for you"..
Of federal executions resuming in terre haute.
///// "rondrell moore" will walk us through the latest developments at the prison.
"heather good" is "a media witness" to the execution..
We'll hear from her.
And "sarah lehman" is following the demonstrators.
We start "with rondrell moore".
He's been "at the federal prison" since earlier this afternoon.
He explains..
What "he's seen today"..
And talks with "heather good"..
Who has been inside, waiting to be a media witness.
///// susie... i've been here since early this afternoon.... there has been a lot of back and forth in court... even today..
To try to stop these executions.
Some cases involve safety concerns due to the pandemic.... others involve the lethal injection protocol.
We've had crews out here monitoring the developments.
As i explained at five.... news 10's heather good has also been here.
When executions happen... there are witnesses including members of the media.
Heather was one of those witnesses.
She joins me now... there were several people inside the witness area... here's what i saw thanks heather for joining us..
We also want to walk you at home through the crime that led to lee being on death row.... in 19-99, a jury found him guilty of killing a family of three in arkansas.
They were a federal firearms licensee and his family.
An eight-year-old girl was among the victims. the d-o-j says ..
Lee and another man robbed and shot them in 19-96.
Then, they covered their heads with plastic bags, weighed them down with rocks, and threw them into a body of water.
The family of the victims ..
The prosecutor, and the judge who tried the lee case -- all say lee shouldn't be executed.
That's because the other man in the case received a life sentence, instead of a death sentence.
/////// 3.
Soundbite (english) monica veillette, aunt and cousin were murdered: "this situation has only compounded our grief.
And so continuing to say that this is something done in our family's name is just not authentic and true."
//////////// "yes, daniel lee damanged my life... but i don't see how taking his life is going to change any of that."
/////// we've been following the demonstrators today.... sarah lehman is also live at the prison... covid 19 is a big concern to a lot of people when it comes to these executions.
That was the reason for the first appeal.
But capital punishment is a hot button topic across the country.
That's why we were surprised to "not" find anyone on either side of the issue here at the prison.
News 10's dominic miranda and i planned to find demonstrators here in roped off areas of the prison.
But as you can see here behind me.
They have been empty all day long.
Demonstrators were supposed to meet at two specific locations in terre haute to be bussed here.
Those were demonstrators for and against the execution.
The officers were waiting to help get people through "processing".... but no one showed up!
However, there was a group that met near the prison this morning.
These folks were 'against' the death penalty.
Representatives of "death penalty action" were there.
Locally, that includes the "terre haute death penalty resistance" group.
A lot of these protestors are also concerned about covid - 19 spreading during these executions.
///// //////// " "we're making it more dangerous, for everybody concernedb& by doing it in the middle of this pandemic."
"i think, again, these judges, are realizing that there are legitimate issues here.
And there is no reason but for politics..
To rush through these."
" ////////// the group met in a separate protest not long ago... news 10's bri shackleford shows us what happened.
//// the death penalty resistance group met near springhill and u-s 41 this afternoon.
They were encouraging protesters to stay away from the protest area marked off by the prison.
As sarah mentioned... they raised concerns about covid-19.
The terre haute death penalty resistance is a group of people who want capital punishment to end.
This group believes that all life is sacred and the death penalty is unjust.
They said they wanted to bring visibility to the issue by being at a busy intersection.
I spoke with a sister of the sisters of providence today about it.
She said the main reason for the protest was because there was another option the government could take.
A peaceful option.
////// "we're very much aware that these crimes are terrible.
So the possiblity of a life sentence without parole is certainly one of those things."
///// they also felt prison officials made felt prison they also ///// they also felt prison officials made it hard for people to take part by setting early deadlines for people to show up.
Back to you, rondrell.
Local law enforcement are working today to make sure the area stays safe.
You can see several indiana state police vehicles in this video... they were out today helping to block roads... and control crowds.
Local police worked together for weeks to form their plans.
We're going to be out here a little while longer... for now, reporting from the federal prison in terre haute..
I'm rondrell moore for news 10.
Susie, back to you.
/////// we're going to check back-in "with rondrell"..
Again..
A little bit later on in this newscast.
You can also find "complete coverage" of what's happened today "on the news 10 app" and "at
The Supreme Court recently lifted the delay for execution on the ineffective counsel claim.
Three executions set for Terre Haute's federal prison next week - here's what they were convicted of doing
