Attorneys for a South Carolina inmate set to be executed this month are asking to stay the execution.
Freddie Owens' attorneys filed a motion alleging his conviction relied heavily on the testimony of the co-conspirator who allegedly witnessed him gun down a convenience store clerk in 1997. Now they say authorities made a verbal agreement with the witness to take the death penalty off the table in exchange for his testimony.
This man signed an affidavit last month saying this agreement wasn't mentioned in his official plea deal or by prosecutors during the trial. Owens' attorneys say therefore the jury wasn't aware of information that would have called into question the reliability of the testimony that convicted him.