Napoleon Beazley
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Napoleon Beazley (August 5, 1976 – May 28, 2002) was a convicted murderer executed by lethal injection by the State of Texas for the murder of 63-year-old Texas businessman John Luttig in 1994.
His case is notable because he was 17 years old at the time of the offense and because his victim was the father of a Judge J. Michael Luttig. During his appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court, 3 of the 9 justices recused themselves because of their personal ties to Judge Luttig, leaving 6 justices to review the case. Justice Antonin Scalia recused himself because Luttig had clerked for him while Justices David Souter and Clarence Thomas recused themselves from the decision because Luttig had led the George H. W. Bush Administration's successful effort to gain U.S. Senate confirmation for Souter and Thomas to the Supreme Court.
On August 13, 2001, the Court voted 3-3 on Beazley's request for a stay of execution, with the tie vote resulting in a rejection of the request.[1] On May 28, 2002, the Court voted unanimously 6-0 to reject Beazley's request for a writ of habeas corpus.[2] Scalia, Souter, and Thomas recused themselves in both votes.
