Emergency application · Capital case
Death row appeal rules
Benjamin Ritchie v. Indiana
What did the Court do?
The Court denied the request on May 19, 2025 and refused to halt the execution.
Emergency rulings are temporary and do not decide the underlying case.
What's being asked
Benjamin Ritchie, an Indiana prisoner under a death sentence, asked the Court to pause his execution, scheduled for May 20. He also asked the Court to hear his challenge to an Indiana Supreme Court decision refusing permission for another challenge after conviction. Ritchie says Indiana's rules wrongly blocked a claim that the lawyer handling his first challenge after conviction failed to help him properly.
What the Court did
The Court refused to pause Ritchie's execution (denied his request for a stay, a temporary pause). It also refused to hear his case (denied his petition for certiorari, a request for Supreme Court review). The Court did not publish how the justices voted.
What it means
The emergency request concerned only a temporary pause; the Court did not decide whether Ritchie's underlying claim is right. The Indiana Supreme Court's refusal to let him bring another challenge remains in place. No related merits case is listed, and the Court set no argument on this application.
Sources
Facts on this page come from the Supreme Court docket, orders, and opinions for No. 24A1077. The answers restate that record in plain words; explainer copy is written from the record and the filings only.