A federal judge has rejected the latest attempt by the world’s oldest death row inmate for clemency with his execution now days away.
Lawyers for 78-year-old Carl Wayne Buntion had attempted to stop his date with a lethal injection by arguing the punishment is “cruel and unusual”.
Court records show it was thrown out with Buntion due to die on Thursday in Huntsville, Texas, the Houston Chronicle reported.
All is not yet lost however as US District Judge Kenneth M Hoyt recommended the inmate’s legal team seek permission from an appeals court should they wish to continue fighting the decision.
Buntion was found guilty of shooting and killing Houston police officer James Irby, 37, in 1990.
The killer, who had an extensive criminal record already, shot the officer when he and a friend were pulled over for a minor traffic offence.
Buntion, the passenger, exited the car while the driver and officer were talking and shot him once in the head and twice in the back before being apprehended.
He was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death in 1991.
The records also showed he is in ill health with a list of medical conditions, including hepatitis C, cirrhosis and a chronic liver disease.
Wheelchair bound Buntion also has to be housed in a ground floor cell owing to severe vertigo.
There have been several unsuccessful legal efforts to stop the death sentence over the years.
In 2009 it was deemed “unconstitutional” as jurors were not allowed to hear mitigating evidence and it was vacated.
Then in 2012 in a retrial he was again sentenced to death with a later appeal denied.
Buntion’s lawyers appealed this decision in October 2021, but this was denied by the US Supreme Court.
A petition for clemency previously said: “Mr. Buntion is a frail, elderly man who requires specialised care to perform basic functions.
“He is not a threat to anyone in prison and will not be a threat to anyone in prison if his sentence is reduced to a lesser penalty.
“During the 31 years he has been incarcerated under a sentence of death, he has been cited for only three disciplinary infractions, and he has not been cited for any infraction whatsoever for the last twenty-three years.”
News of his imminent death has been welcomed by the family of officer Irby, including his widow Maura Irby.
Speaking to KPRC 2 , she said the family can now move forward, saying: “I just found out this morning that Carl Buntion is being executed. It’s been 30 years. We’ve been waiting for this.
"I wish James was here to see this. It is good to close the chapter on my husband’s murder. “We can now put this away.”
