The Justice Department on Friday scheduled the execution of Brandon Bernard, 40, by lethal injection on December 10, 2020 (article available here). Bernard and his co-defendant, Christopher Vialva, were convicted in 2000. Vialva was executed on September 22, 2020 at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute. Previous coverage available here.
Bernard’s attorney, Robert Owen, said in a statement the federal government misled the jury in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, which in 2000 found Bernard guilty of murder. Its decision was tainted by false testimony, Owen said. “This evidence confirms that Mr. Bernard is simply not one of the ‘worst of the worst’ offenders for whom we reserve the death penalty, and that sparing his life would pose no risk to anyone.”
Bernard was 18 at the time of the offense and had no violent record.