Georgia's parole board is has granted clemency for a condemned inmate set to be executed this week.
That's according to a news release from the State Board of Pardons and Paroles. The board issued a stay of up to 90 days for Robert Earl Butts Jr. in order to continue consideration of the case.
Butts was scheduled to die Thursday evening at the state prison in Jackson. The board held a clemency hearing Wednesday to hear arguments about commuting his sentence.
The parole board is the only authority in Georgia with the power to commute a death sentence.
Robert Earl Butts Jr. was convicted and sentenced to death in Baldwin County for the 1996 murder of Donovan Corey Parks.
