Wash. Clemency Board: Splits On Killer’s Plea

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — The Washington State Clemency and Pardons Board has split 2-2 on the question of whether Gov. Chris Gregoire should grant Cal Coburn Brown’s request for a reprieve from his execution, set for early Friday.

The board’s transcript was sent Thursday afternoon to Gregoire, who didn’t immediately comment.

The state Supreme Court is also weighing a request for a stay of execution, and Brown’s lawyers have asked a federal judge to stay the execution.

Brown is scheduled to die by lethal injection at the Washington State Penitentiary for the 1991 murder of a young woman.