Philly DA sues Gov. Wolf over death penalty moratorium
snip> In a lawsuit filed Wednesday, Williams asks the state Supreme Court to rule Wolf's move a "lawless act," claiming the governor had no legal right to grant a reprieve to convicted murderer Terrance Williams.
snip> The district attorney also claims Wolf's moratorium is unconstitutional because it ignores the Legislature's 1976 death penalty law and tries to take over the court's judicial review of criminal procedures.
snip> In his lawsuit, Williams says the governor can grant reprieves only as a temporary measure to allow a defendant to pursue "an available legal remedy." The governor cannot grant open-ended reprieves in cases where there are no legal questions surrounding guilt, the suit states.
"Merely characterizing conduct by the governor as a reprieve does not make it so," Williams wrote, citing a successful 1994 lawsuit Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli filed against Gov. Robert P. Casey to enforce the death penalty against Martin D. Appel and Joseph Henry.
http://www.mcall.com/news/nationworld/pennsylvania/mc-pa-philly-da-sues-wolf-death-penalty-20150218-story.html#panel=comments
