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Tennessee Supreme Court Upholds Execution Schedule for Byron Black Over Heart Device Dispute

By overturning a trial court’s order to deactivate his implantable defibrillator, the Tennessee Supreme Court left final appeals pending with a clemency petition unresolved.

Overview

  • Byron Black’s lethal injection is set for 10 a.m. CT on Aug. 5 at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville.
  • On July 31, the state’s highest court reversed a lower court ruling that would have deactivated Black’s implantable cardioverter-defibrillator before his execution.
  • The court declined to grant a new competency hearing under Tennessee’s 2021 retroactive intellectual disability law, leaving earlier findings intact.
  • Black’s attorneys have filed last-minute appeals in state and federal courts and sought clemency from Gov. Bill Lee.
  • If carried out, the execution would be Tennessee’s second since ending a five-year moratorium and underscores constitutional and medical ethics questions about executing disabled, medically vulnerable inmates.