ATLANTA (AP) The state parole board plans to hold a clemency hearing for a Georgia inmate scheduled for execution this week.
Steven Frederick Spears, 54, is to be put to death Wednesday. He was convicted in the August 2001 slaying of his ex-girlfriend Sherri Holland at her home in Dahlonega.
While Spears apparently has not spoken with his attorneys in almost a year, lawyers and other representatives for Spears plan to ask the State Board of Pardons and Paroles to spare his life during a hearing Tuesday. Enotah Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jeff Langley says he plans to argue for Spears' execution.
The parole board is the only authority in Georgia with power to commute a death sentence.
Spears' lawyers are also asking a judge to set a hearing on alleged constitutional problems during his trial and sentencing.
Holland's body was found padlocked in the bedroom of her home 15 years ago. She had been strangled to death.
AccessWDUN staff contributed to this report.