Mississippi death row inmate appeals case to U.S. Supreme Court

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - Attorneys for a man who raped and murdered a junior college student more than 30 years ago are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to block his execution.

This week, Charles Ray Crawford filed two emergency petitions with the court, including one seeking a stay of execution, and another asking justices to take up the case, saying his Sixth Amendment rights were violated during his criminal trial.

Crawford is slated to be executed on October 15, years after he raped and killed Kristy Ray, a junior college student in Tippah County.

[READ: Execution date set for Mississippi man who raped junior college student]

Court records indicate Crawford kidnapped the 20-year-old from her parents’ home, took her to an abandoned barn, and raped and murdered her.

Attorneys for the 59-year-old argue that his attorney at trial violated his Sixth Amendment right by conceding his guilt to the jury, despite Crawford objecting to the strategy.

Records indicate that during closing arguments at his criminal trial, his attorney told jurors that he was “‘legally responsible’ for the charged crimes and that he was ‘still dangerous to the community.’”

“Counsel made those sweeping concessions over petitioner’s repeated and vehement objections, which he expressed to both counsel and the trial court,” the filing states. “Unsurprisingly, the jury convicted the petitioner and sentenced him to death.”

Attorneys for Crawford say the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in McCoy v. Louisiana that the Sixth Amendment gives defendants the right to decide whether to permit counsel to concede guilt.

However, Crawford argues the Mississippi Supreme Court considered the ruling a new rule that could not be applied retroactively.

McCoy was handed down in 2018, some 25 years after his 1993 conviction.

“This court has long recognized that a criminal defendant has a Sixth Amendment right to direct the most important aspects of his own defense. That right inheres in the amendment itself, which assures the accused ‘the assistance of counsel for his defense,’” his attorneys wrote. “Petitioner’s Sixth Amendment right to a personal defense was plainly violated here.”

The filings come weeks after the Mississippi Supreme Court dismissed Crawford’s petition for post-conviction relief, with eight of the eight justices agreeing on the ruling, and one justice concurring but in results only.

The Mississippi Department of Corrections website shows Crawford was also given 20 years on an aggravated assault charge, 46 years for rape, and 15 years for residential burglary. He was convicted on two other charges as well. However, those were not listed on the MDOC page.

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