JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - The state is firing back, a little more than a week after Charles Ray Crawford filed an emergency petition to block his execution in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Crawford is slated to be put to death next week for the rape and murder of Kristy Ray more than 30 years ago.

He filed two petitions with the high court last week, one being an emergency stay of execution, and a second one asking justices to take up his case, saying his Sixth Amendment rights were violated during his criminal trial.

[ READ: Mississippi death row inmate appeals case to U.S. Supreme Court ]

In a 38-page response, the state refutes Crawford’s claims, saying that the defendant “has refused the process he was due, his punishment is just, and his execution will be constitutional.”

The state a

See Full Page