Supreme Court Denies Appeal, South Carolina Inmate Set for Execution

The US Supreme Court has rejected the final appeal of Marion Bowman Jr., a South Carolina inmate scheduled for execution Friday for the 2001 murder of a friend, The Associated Press reports.

The court’s decision came a day before Bowman’s scheduled execution and without comment.

Bowman, 44, had argued that his trial attorney was biased due to the race of the victim, making his defense inadequate. He contended the lawyer, concerned about the potential perception of a Black man being involved with a white woman in 2002 South Carolina, did not mount a vigorous defense. Bowman had claimed his attorney told him he should plead guilty, because he was a Black man accused of killing a white woman.

The South Carolina Supreme Court previously dismissed Bowman’s appeal as “meritless,” arguing his lawyer’s comments were taken out of context.

Bowman’s execution is scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday at the Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia, where he will receive a lethal injection of pentobarbital. He will be the third Black man executed in South Carolina in the past four months after the state resumed executions following a 13-year pause related to issues obtaining lethal injection drugs.

Bowman was convicted of the murder of 21-year-old Kandee Martin, who was found dead in her burning car in 2001. He has maintained his innocence since his arrest and rejected a plea deal that would have guaranteed a life sentence.

Much of the prosecution’s case rested on testimony from friends and family members, many of whom were offered reduced prison sentences or had charges dropped in exchange for their testimony. Witnesses testified that Bowman was angry because Martin owed him money and that he thought she was recording him to get him arrested on a charge. Bowman admitted he sold Martin drugs and that they sometimes had sex when she didn’t have money.

Bowman has one remaining request before the US Supreme Court, asking for a stay of execution while a lower court reviews the state’s shield law. He argues the law is unfair as it does not disclose sufficient information regarding the drugs used in executions and procedures, adding to concerns about the fairness of the execution. An anesthesiologist also raised concerns that South Carolina’s lethal injection protocol may not be adequate for someone of Bowman’s weight, who prison records show weighs 389 pounds. The state responded saying that obese patients receive IVs for surgery and other procedures daily.

Bowman also has the option to seek clemency from the governor. A group called South Carolinians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty has submitted nearly 10,000 petitions to the governor’s office, urging a halt to the execution. Historically, however, no governor has commuted a death sentence to life in prison in the modern era of the death penalty in South Carolina.

The American Civil Liberties Union also filed a lawsuit against South Carolina this week, arguing that the state’s privacy law is unfair, since previously, the government released information about execution procedures and materials. South Carolina law allows inmates to choose between a firing squad, the electric chair, and lethal injection. Two inmates executed since the state resumed executions chose lethal injection.