Execution halted

Jet, March 4, 2002

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Caption: EXECUTION HALTED: Death row inmate Amos King, convicted of the 1977 murder of 68-year-old Natalie Brady, holds a press conference at Florida State Prison in Starke, FL, after he won a reprieve from the U.S. Supreme Court. King, 47, who maintains his innocence, was originally scheduled for execution in January. The judges stopped the execution to consider an Arizona case that deals with a fundamental aspect of Florida's capital punishment law: the power of the judge imposing the death sentence rather than the jury. Florida is one of nine states that allows its judges to make this decision. King's stay is open-ended, meaning it could be lifted at any time. "I would be cheering, but I've been preparing myself. I've been preparing for anything, mainly for the worst," King said. "I'm not a rapist. I'm not a murderer. The case was bent to fit me." If the Supreme Court overturns Arizona's law, it could result in Florida's law being declared unconstitutional. King has survived two other death warrants, one signed in 1981 and the other in 1988.