Witness Now Says Inmate to Be Executed Is Innocent

Earlier this month, the South Carolina Supreme Court upheld the death penalty for Freddie Owens and kept him on the docket to be the first individual executed in the state in 13 years. This week, attorneys for the 46-year-old Owens, sentenced to death for the 1997 murder of a convenience store clerk, tried again, filing an emergency motion to halt his execution just hours before it's set to take place Friday evening. The answer from the state's high court? Once again, it's a no, reports FOX Carolina.

• New claim: At the center of Owens' argument was a newly signed affidavit from co-defendant Steven Golden, who was also said to be present during the robbery that led to the shooting death of Irene Graves and who had named Owens as the shooter. Golden, 18 at the time, now says that Owens, who was 19 when the shooting took place, "is not the person who shot Irene Graves" and "was not present" during the robbery, the affidavit says, per the Guardian.
• Reasoning: Golden, who was sentenced to 30 years behind bars for his role in the murder, claims in the affidavit that he was high when police questioned him days later and says he "was scared that I would get the death penalty if I didn't make a statement" against Owens. "I substituted Freddie for the person who was really with me ... because I thought the real shooter or his associates might kill me if I named him to the police." Golden says he's speaking up now because "I don't want [Owens] to be executed for something he didn't do."

• Court ruling: The South Carolina Supreme Court, however, rebuffed the affidavit filed Wednesday, noting that it "contradicts testimony in Owens' 1999 trial, in his 2003 resentencing, and [in] a statement he gave law enforcement shortly after the crime was committed," per FOX Carolina. The high court says there was also plenty of other evidence other than Golden's testimony implicating Owens, and that Owens has confessed five times to killing Graves.
• Lawyer statement: "South Carolina is on the verge of executing a man for a crime he did not commit. We will continue to advocate for [Owens]," the inmate's attorney, Gerald "Bo" King, said in a statement, per the Guardian.
• Support for Owens: The Greenville News reports that a vigil was held Thursday in Columbia to "stand in solidarity" with Owens, as one attendee from North Carolina put it. Meanwhile, the Rev. Hillary Taylor, director of South Carolinians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, said on Thursday it would prove a "huge miscarriage of justice" if the execution goes forward. Gov. Henry McMaster is set to announce whether he'll grant Owens clemency shortly before the lethal injection scheduled for 6pm local time on Friday, though precedence isn't leaning in Owens' favor.

(More execution stories.)