NEW YORK, Jan 28 (AFP) - A US court ruled Friday that the father of a serial killer could not stop his son's execution, but delayed the lethal injection anyway, to allow a last-ditch appeal.
Michael Ross, 45, was convicted of raping and murdering eight women in the US states of New York and Connecticut in the 1980s. He long ago stopped appealing his execution.
If he is put to death as scheduled on Saturday at midnight (0500 Sunday) it would be the first execution in the politically progressive New England region of the northeastern United States since 1960.
His father, Dan Ross, asked the three-judge appeals court to halt the execution, but the panel rejected the request, saying no father had ever been authorized to speak on behalf of his son in such cases.
However, the panel moved back the execution from Saturday at 2:00 am (0700 GMT) to allow the father to appeal their decision.
The elder Ross's attorney, Antonio Ponvert, said he wished to take the case to the US Supreme Court.
"This is a real miscarriage of justice," Ponvert said.
"My reaction is profound disappointment in our state officials, to rush ahead to try to beat the clock and execute a man whether he is competent or not."
Ross's execution was initially scheduled for Wednesday, but was delayed by a Connecticut judge who wanted new psychiatric examinations to determine if the convict was mentally competent to give up his appeals and clear his own execution.
However, the Connecticut judge's order was struck down by a higher court.
Six other inmates await execution in Connecticut. New England comprises Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.
01/28/2005 22:33 GMT - AFP