The New York Times

Friday, September 10, 1999

Supreme Court Delays La. Execution

By The Associated Press

ANGOLA, La. (AP) -- For the sixth time, the execution of a man convicted in a 1991 murder has been delayed.

On Thursday, less than 30 minutes before Feltus Taylor was to be executed by lethal injection, the U.S. Supreme Court granted a stay so the justices will have time to determine whether his constitutional rights were violated at his trial.

Taylor, 38, received the news as he was eating his last meal of seafood, french fries and cheesecake.

``He was very relieved,'' said Taylor's attorney, Michele Fournet. ``He put his head on the table and cried.''

Fournet claimed in an appeal to the nation's highest court that her client was given anti-psychotic drugs during his trial on an irregular schedule without his attorneys' knowledge.

Taylor had been scheduled to die by injection at about 6 p.m. at the Louisiana State Penitentiary for the March 27, 1991, killing of Donna Ponsano at a restaurant in Baton Rouge.

Keith Clark, the former manager at the restaurant, survived the attack after being shot four times in the head, but is now paralyzed on his left side.

Clark had traveled to Angola with his mother and father and planned to witness the execution.

``We are all disappointed,'' Clark said after the execution was stayed. ``It was a shock. We really thought it was going to go through. I am looking forward to the next time.''