The US Supreme Court, in a 7-2 ruling, refused to grant an emergency stay of execution. Last Tuesday, the 9th US Circuity Court of Appeals in San Francisco voted 2-1 to dismiss Ceja's federal appeal and deny a stay of execution. Later, an unidentified judge of the Appeals Court sought a rehearing before a larger panel, but the court said the request failed to gain a majority among the court's 18 active judges. With the clemency board recommending the death sentence be carried out, Gov. Jane Hull was powerless to stop the execution. Testifying on Ceja's behalf was Melvin McDonald, the former Maricopa County Superior Court judge who twice sentenced Ceja to death for the shootings.
Every murder has a devastating impact on the relatives of the victims murdered.
But not every murder warrants the death penalty. In 1998 This page is maintained by Kuno Sandholzer .