A South Carolina inmate has chosen to be executed by firing squad rather than the electric chair, marking the first time an individual sentenced to death in the state has been given the option to choose the method of their own capital punishment. Richard Bernard Moore, 57, is set to be executed on April 29 following more than two decades on death row, after being convicted of the 1999 murder of James Mahoney. If executed, he will be the first person to be put to death in South Carolina since 2011, and the fourth to be executed in the U.S. by firing squad in the last 50 years. In a Friday statement, Moore stated he chose his execution method—being gunned down by three prison workers—but maintained that his crime was in self-defense. “I believe this election is forcing me to choose between two unconstitutional methods of execution, and I do not intend to waive any challenges to electrocution or firing squad by making an election,” Moore said in a statement about his choice to choose his own punishment. His lawyers have asked the state Supreme Court to delay his death sentence.
