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GREENVILLE, SC (FOX Carolina) – Another court has denied an emergency motion filed by lawyers for convicted murderer Freddie Owens just hours before his execution.
On Friday, the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals declined to grant Owens’ emergency motion to stay the execution.
This came a day after the South Carolina Supreme Court denied a request to delay the execution again. Owens’ defense relied on a new affidavit signed by Owens’ co-defendant in a fatal robbery in Greenville County in 1997.
Owens was found guilty of shooting store clerk Irene Graves in the head at the Speedway on Laurens Road in 1997. Prosecutors said he was angry because she didn’t open the safe quickly enough.
Steven Golden, who was also involved in the robbery, signed an affidavit on Thursday stating: “Freddie Owens is not the person who shot Irene Graves.”
Golden said he was high on cocaine and marijuana when he was arrested and questioned by police on Nov. 11. At the time, he signed a statement saying Owens shot Graves in the head. He also testified during Owens’ murder trial.
“In that statement, I identified Freddie as the person who was actually with me at the speedway that night,” the affidavit states. “I did that because I knew that’s what the police wanted me to do, and also because I thought the real shooter or his accomplices would kill me if I named him to the police. I’m still afraid of that. But Freddie was actually not there.”
Golden continued: “I don’t want Freddie to be executed for something he didn’t do. This weighs heavily on my mind and I want to have a clear conscience.”
Golden was sentenced to 30 years in prison for his role in the robbery after testifying against Owens.
Owens’ lawyers said the new information entitles Owens to a post-conviction appeals hearing.
However, the South Carolina Supreme Court said Golden’s affidavit contradicted testimony at Owens’ 1999 trial, at his 2003 re-sentencing and a statement he made to law enforcement shortly after committing the crime. The court also said there was substantial evidence against Owens besides Golden’s testimony.
Owens also confessed to his involvement in Graves’ murder five times, the court said.
“We are disappointed in the South Carolina Supreme Court’s decision not to intervene in the case of Freddie Owens,” said defense attorney Gerald “Bo” King. “South Carolina is on the brink of executing a man for a crime he did not commit. We will continue to advocate for Mr. Owens.”
Owens’ defense team filed an emergency motion for a stay of execution with the U.S. Supreme Court in the final hour before his scheduled death. The South Carolina Attorney General’s Office asked the Supreme Court to deny the motion shortly before 6 p.m.
He is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection at 6 p.m. Friday. Governor Henry McMaster is expected to announce a decision on the pardon at that time. However, no South Carolina governor in modern history has ever prevented an execution.
FOX Carolina anchor Justin Dougherty was selected as a media witness for the execution.
In the 24 hours between Owens’ 1999 murder conviction and his sentencing, authorities say he brutally killed Christopher Bryan Lee, a cellmate at the Greenville County Detention Center. Owens was never charged with Lee’s murder.
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