Stay of execution - Execution stopped by U.S. Supreme Court

The execution of convicted killer Leslie Dale Martin was called off by the U.S. Supreme Court less than half an hour before he was scheduled to die Friday night.

 Warden Burl Cain told the inmate and witnesses that justices had blocked the 6:30 p.m. execution with an order that said they wanted to consider whether to hear his appeal.

 Martin, 34, was sentenced to die for the rape and strangulation of Christina Burgin, who was 19 when she was killed in Lake Charles in 1991.

 Burgin's parents were among witnesses at the prison, Cain said.

 Prosecutors said Martin choked the victim, cut her throat, gouged her eyes out, put a board on her neck and jumped up and down on it, then left her body in a shed. The body was found so badly decomposed that identification was almost impossible.

 Upon learning of the delay, "The prisoner was a little bit stunned, a little bit shocked," Cain said. He said Martin, a Buddhist, was sitting on the floor of his cell with his spiritual adviser when he got the word.

 It was his 5th stay, but none of the others had been this close. He already had eaten his last meal and had said goodbye to his mother, which left him in tears, the warden said.

 Cain said he sent Martin back to death row, to be held in a new cell on a different tier.

 "I feel he'll be very, very safe and secure on death row," Cain said.

 Earlier Friday, Martin had 6 visitors, 3 of whom were allowed in his cell with him: his mother, his sister and the spiritual adviser.

 "I always try and let the mother touch and hug his neck. She didn't do the crime but has to suffer through this," Cain said.

 Martin's attorneys had a request for a stay pending at the U.S. Supreme Court.

 A handful of anti-death penalty protesters were at the gate of the state penitentiary in rural southeast Louisiana. Dozens more picketed the Supreme Court building in New Orleans.

 Martin briefly escaped from death row with 3 other inmates in November 1999 but was recaptured on prison grounds.

 Cain said security was extra tight because of that, and because guards had heard Martin several weeks ago talking about possibly taking a hostage in another escape attempt. Martin was moved from death row to the death house, about 5 miles inside the vast prison grounds, on Jan. 9. Those facing execution usually are moved to the death house on the day of execution or a few days before.

 Appeals centered on several issues, including the claim that prosecutors had no physical evidence of rape -- an important element since rape was an aggravating factor which backed up the death sentence under Louisiana law.

 In addition, defense attorney Clive Stafford-Smith challenged testimony that Martin confessed to another inmate while in jail.

 Stafford-Smith said a document turned over this week by the district attorney showed "that the snitch, the jailhouse informant, had been diagnosed as a pathological liar at the time of trial. How can anyone be put to death based on that evidence?"

 In Lake Charles, Judge Mike Canaday rejected arguments Thursday that a mental health evaluation of the snitch was not admitted at the 1992 trial. Canaday said prosecutors did not have the evaluation at the time. The agencies which had those records were not working with the state on Martin's case, the judge noted.

 Other issues in the case included a claim that Martin could not get a fair hearing from the state Pardon Board because it is biased toward victims. Canaday rejected the claim Wednesday, and his ruling was upheld 6-1 by the state Supreme Court on Thursday with Justice Bernette Johnson the only dissenter.

 The Moratorium Campaign, a nationwide group calling for a moratorium on executions, has been trying to persuade Gov. Mike Foster to commute Martin's sentence. The organization said that more than 500 faxes were sent through it to the governor calling for a reprieve.

 Foster said earlier that he would not interfere with the execution.