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Judge postpones execution of Texas woman until April; she would have been 1st in US since 2010

Michael Graczyk / The Associated Press
January 29, 2013

FILE - This undated file photo provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice shows Kimberly McCarthy, who is on death row in Texas for the 1997 killing of a neighbor during a robbery. A state judge halted McCarthy's execution Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013, less than five hours before she could have been put to death, on the grounds that the jury that convicted her of murder was improperly selected on the basis of race. Dallas County Assistant District Attorney Shelly Yeatts says McCarthy's execution date now is April 3. (AP Photo/Texas Department of Criminal Justice, File)

HUNTSVILLE, Texas - Prosecutors say they aren't appealing a state judge's decision to halt the scheduled Tuesday evening execution of a Texas woman.

She would have been the first woman put to death in the U.S. since 2010.

State District Judge Larry Mitchell issued a reprieve for 51-year-old Kimberly McCarthy less than five hours before she could have been taken to the death chamber for the 1997 slaying of a neighbour.

Dallas County Assistant District Attorney Shelly Yeatts says McCarthy's execution date now is April 3.

McCarthy's lawyers contend the jury that convicted her of murder was improperly selected on the basis of race. McCarthy is black. Her jury was made up of 11 whites and one black person.

© Copyright 2013

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