NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee's attorney general is opposing motions to delay executions scheduled in August and October due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In two state Supreme Court filings this week, Attorney General Herbert Slatery wrote that attorneys for Byron Black and Harold Nichols are speculating about future public health conditions in their delay requests.
Slatery wrote that the court can take whatever actions necessary if public health circumstances worsen.
Nichols' execution is scheduled for Aug. 4 and Black's is slated for Oct. 8.
The state Supreme Court previously delayed inmate Oscar Smith’s execution from June to February 2021 due to the coronavirus.
The state's most recent execution occurred Feb. 20 when East Tennessean Nicky Sutton was put to death for helping kill an inmate at the Morgan County prison in 1985.