USA: Stay of execution in two cases – David Wood in Texas and Jessie Hoffman in Louisiana

On Tuesday, David Wood (Texas) and Jessie Hofman (Louisiana) each received a stay of execution. Wood’s death sentence was to be carried out on Thursday, Hoffman’s on Tuesday.

In the case of David Wood (67), the Texas Supreme Court of Appeals ordered the stay “until further order of this court” without further explanation.

Wood has maintained his innocence for decades. He has been on Texas’ death row for nearly four decades, even though there is no DNA evidence linking him to the murders of six women and girls in El Paso in 1987.

In the case of Jessie Hoffman (46), a judge ordered the stay due to the planned nitrogen execution method, which was to be used for the first time in Louisiana. Judge Shelly Dick considers execution by nitrogen to be a violation of the US Constitution, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment.

She cited reports from all four executions carried out in Alabama using nitrogen that “describe suffering, including minutes of conscious shock, shaking, gasping and other signs of agony”. The witnesses observed the inmates’ bodies “writhing” under their restraints, “twitching and shaking violently for minutes,” rebelling, spitting, and “consciously fighting for their lives.”

The Louisiana Attorney General’s Office responded as follows: “We disagree with the district court’s decision and will immediately appeal to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.”

It will likely come down to a legal tug-of-war that could go all the way to the United States Supreme Court. The stay for Jessie Hoffman – unlike that of David Wood – is therefore by no means certain.

Sources:
https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/03/11/david-leonard-wood-execution-texas/82286994007/
https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/03/11/louisiana-nitrogen-gas-execution-jessie-hoffman/82284062007/