Summary
denying stay and affirming dismissal where inmate did not file suit until six days before his scheduled execution
Summary of this case from Walker v. EppsOpinion
No. 07-70007.
March 28, 2007.
Roy Lee Pippin, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Livingston, TX, for Plaintiff-Appellant.
Ellen Stewart-Klein, Office of the Attorney General, Austin, TX, for Defendants-Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston, H007-0982.
Before KING, HIGGINBOTHAM, and PRADO, Circuit Judges.
Plaintiff-appellant Roy Lee Pippin is scheduled to be executed by the State of Texas on March 29, 2007.
Pippin was convicted of murdering more than one person during the same criminal transaction and murdering one of the victims during the course of a kidnapping. Pippin was sentenced to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed his conviction and sentence. Pippin v. State, No. 72,252 (Tex.Crim.App. May 21, 1997). Pippin unsuccessfully petitioned for state and federal habeas corpus relief. See generally Pippin v. Dretke, 434 F.3d 782 (5th Cir. 2005), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 127 S.Ct. 351, 166 L.Ed.2d 49 (2006).
Pippin, acting pro se, filed an action in district court on March 23, 2007, challenging the combination of drugs used by the State of Texas to administer lethal injections. Pippin asserted that the drugs may paralyze but not produce unconsciousness, constituting cruel and unusual punishment. The district court dismissed Pippin's complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, holding that Pippin was dilatory in raising his challenge to the drug combination used. Pippin v. Quarterman, No. H007-0982, 2007 WL 950397 (S.D.Tex. Mar. 26, 2007). We affirm the district court's final judgment entered March 26, 2007, for essentially the reasons given in its Memorandum and Order. See Harris v. Johnson, 376 F.3d 414 (5th Cir. 2004).
AFFIRMED. Pippin's motion for a stay of execution is DENIED. The mandate shall issue forthwith.