By Alexa Shrake, Indiana Lawyer
Gov. Eric Holcomb and Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita are calling for the restart of executions in Indiana and want to start with a man found guilty of murder in 1997.
“After years of effort, the Indiana Department of Correction has acquired a drug—pentobarbital—which can be used to carry out executions. Accordingly, I am fulfilling my duties as governor to follow the law and move forward appropriately in this matter,” Holcomb said in a news release.
Indiana hasn’t had an execution since 2009.
Joseph Corcoran was found guilty of the murder of four people in 1997. He exhausted his appeals in 2016 and has been awaiting his execution since.
“In Indiana, state law authorizes the death penalty as a means of providing justice for victims of society’s most heinous crimes and holding perpetrators accountable,” Rokita said in a news release. “Further, it serves as an effective deterrent for certain potential offenders who might otherwise commit similar extreme crimes of violence. Now that the Indiana Department of Correction is prepared to carry out the lawfully imposed sentence, it’s incumbent on our justice system to immediately enable executions in our prisons to resume. Today, I am filing a motion asking the Indiana Supreme Court to set a date for the execution of Joseph Corcoran.”
The state is asking the Indiana Supreme Court to set a date for Corcoran’s execution.
Indiana is one of 21 states that have the death penalty, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
