Arkansas inmates make longshot bids to avoid execution
By ANDREW DeMILLO, Associated Press
Mar 24, 2017 11:34 AM CDT
FILE - This combination of undated file photos provided by the Arkansas Department of Correction shows death-row inmates Stacey E. Johnson, left, and Ledelle Lee. Both men are scheduled for execution on April 20, 2017. (Arkansas Department of Correction via AP)   (Associated Press)

VARNER, Ark. (AP) — Two Arkansas inmates scheduled for lethal injections next month are asking the parole board to spare their lives, a longshot effort to halt an unprecedented plan to execute eight prisoners in a 10-day period.

Stacey Johnson and a lawyer for Ledell Lee appeared for the board Friday, asking it to recommend that Gov. Asa Hutchinson commute their sentences. Such efforts typically fail. Of the 27 people executed in Arkansas since 1990, 20 had clemency requests rejected and the others didn't apply. Gov. Mike Huckabee commuted one man's sentence on his own after a reluctant juror stepped forward.

Johnson and Lee are set to die April 20. Other double executions are set for April 17, 24 and 27.

The board will hear later Friday from relatives of the men's victims.