Kentucky Attorney General Urges Franklin Circuit Court to End Its Death Penalty Ban

‘The survivors of the victims of these horrific crimes have suffered in limbo for long enough’

FRANKFORT, Ky. (March 8, 2024) – Attorney General Russell Coleman filed a motion with the Franklin Circuit Court seeking to end the nearly 15-year ruling that has blocked the imposition of the death penalty in Kentucky. Earlier this week, the Beshear Administration published an amended capital punishment regulation, which would bring the Commonwealth’s policy into full compliance with the Franklin Circuit Court’s 2010 ruling.

“For almost 15 years, Kentucky has been bogged down by delays as violent criminals tie up our legal system with costly litigation as they seek to avoid justice,” said Attorney General Coleman. “The survivors of the victims of these horrific crimes have suffered in limbo for long enough. They deserve the justice that was lawfully delivered by a jury.”

Lisa Briscoe Lally has endured the pain of the delay in punishment personally. In 1992, Powell County Sheriff Steve Bennett and Deputy Sheriff Arthur Briscoe—Lally’s brother-in-law and brother, respectively—were murdered while trying to serve twice-convicted felon Ralph Baze with warrants from Ohio. A jury found Baze guilty and sentenced him to death in 1994. He has been on death row ever since.

“We’re fed up with the delays. Fed up. Totally fed up,” said Lally in an interview with Louisville Public Media. “It’s like the state of Kentucky has forgotten how heinously my brother and brother-in-law were murdered.”

Currently, there are 26 Kentucky inmates who are awaiting their death sentence. Karu Gene White, who committed his crimes more than 40 years ago and remains on death row, is emblematic of the unacceptable delay that attends these matters. The Office of the Attorney General just recently filed a 76-page brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit opposing Mr. White’s latest attempt to avoid his sentence.

On Wednesday, General Coleman announced he asked the entire Sixth Circuit to respect a jury’s verdict and reconsider a recent panel decision to throw out the death sentence for convicted murderer Benny Lee Hodge.

Read General Coleman’s filing here.