ATLANTA - The State Board of Pardons and Paroles met on Wednesday, March 30, 2016, with representatives for condemned inmate Joshua Bishop. The meeting was held to consider a request for clemency for Bishop. The Board’s decision is to deny clemency.

Bishop is scheduled to die by lethal injection tonight, March 31, 2016, at 7 p.m. at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson.

In reaching its decision, in addition to information received during yesterday’s meeting, the Parole Board reviewed all case materials from the comprehensive parole file of Bishop.

On February 8, 1996, following a jury trial, Joshua Bishop was convicted of malice murder and armed robbery for the 1994 murder of Leverett Morrison. The jury’s recommendation of a death sentence was returned on February 12, 1996. Bishop’s direct appeal proceedings and his state and federal habeas corpus proceedings have been concluded. The United States Supreme Court denied Bishop’s request to appeal on October 6, 2014. The Superior Court of Baldwin County issued the execution order.

In Georgia, the Parole Board has the sole constitutional authority to commute, or reduce, a death sentence to life with the possibility of parole or to life without the possibility of parole. The Board maintains a comprehensive file on every death-sentenced inmate. The file includes the history of the life of the condemned inmate, the inmate’s criminal history and the circumstances of the offense that was committed resulting in the death sentence.

For more information please contact Steve Hayes, Director of the Office of Communications, at 404-657-9450 or [email protected] or visit our website at www.pap.georgia.gov.

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