Fayette man seeks stay of execution
A Fayette County man who faces execution in a little more than a month has asked the federal courts to stay the matter while he appeals his conviction and sentence. Last month, Gov. Edward G. Rendell signed a warrant to execute James VanDivner, 62, who fatally shot his former girlfriend, Michelle Cable, in 2004 at her Grindstone home. VanDivner also shot Cable’s son, Billy, as he tried to defend his mother, but did not kill him.
VanDivner shot the Cables on July 5. Testimony at his trial indicated he grabbed Michelle Cable by the hair when she tried to run from him, and shot her in the head.
The motion asks a judge to delay VanDivner’s execution while attorneys prepare an appeal of his conviction and sentence.
While VanDivner’s federal constitutional claims are being litigated, he cannot be executed, according to the motion.
Assistant Federal Public Defenders Anna Ahronheim and Kirk J. Henderson also asked a judge to appoint counsel for VanDivner because he is indigent.
U.S. District Judge Kim R. Gibson granted that request last week.
In 2007, VanDivner was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death.
His conviction and death sentence were upheld by a 5-2 vote by justices of the state Supreme Court in 2009.
One of the major issues argued in the case was whether VanDivner was mentally retarded. If he was deemed so, he cannot be put to death because a prior U.S. Supreme Court ruling found executing a mentally retarded person to be cruel and unusual punishment, and deemed it unconstitutional.
The majority of the judges in the state Supreme Court found that there was enough evidence to disprove VanDivner’s claim of mental retardation.
Rendell signed the warrant to execute VanDivner and several others on June 25. The execution date was set for Aug. 17.