By CNN Staff
updated 7:53 PM EST, Tue February 19, 2013
Warren Lee Hill's defenders say he should not be executed because he is mentally impaired.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the Georgia Court of Appeals grant the stays
- NEW: Warren Lee Hill's attorney says they came within a half hour of the scheduled execution
- Hill's defenders say he's mentally disabled
- Hill was convicted of beating to death another Georgia inmate in 1990
(CNN) -- Twice-convicted killer Warren Lee Hill was granted final-hour stays of execution on Tuesday, his attorney said.
The stays came from the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the Georgia Court of Appeals.
"I think we were within about a half hour of the execution," said Brian Kammer, an attorney for Hill, whose supporters say he is mentally disabled.
The Georgia Court of Appeals acted on a appeal of a challenge to the way the prison handles the lethal injection drugs used in executions, while the federal appeals court issued a stay "ordering a further briefing on the issue of mental retardation," Kammer said.
Earlier Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a stay of execution, as did the state Supreme Court, while the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles similarly denied a request for clemency.
Hill was sentenced to death for the 1990 killing of Joseph Handspike, another inmate in a Georgia state prison.
The execution had been scheduled for 7 p.m. ET at a state prison in Jackson, about 45 miles south of Atlanta.
Hill's lawyers have argued that his IQ of 70 means he should be spared under the 2002 decision that barred the execution of the mentally disabled. But a string of state courts has said Hill doesn't qualify under Georgia law, which requires inmates to prove mental impairment "beyond a reasonable doubt."
Hill was convicted of beating Handspike to death with a nail-studded board while serving a life sentence in the 1985 killing of his girlfriend, Myra Wright.
CNN's Tom Watkins, Matt Smith, Bill Mears, Dana Ford and Dave Alsup contributed to this report.
Georgia inmate granted last-minute stay of execution
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Georgia inmate granted last-minute stay of execution
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Georgia inmate granted last-minute stay of execution
