TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Azya Thornton on Jul 7, 2025

Lawyers for a disabled death row inmate are asking the state to ensure that his implanted heart defibrillator is disabled before his execution to prevent the possibility of it causing a prolonged and painful death, according to The Tennessean. Byron Black — one of the state’s longest serving death row inmates — set to be executed on Aug. 5 for the 1987 murders of a Nashville woman and her two daughters. Black’s lawyers on June 30 filed a request for a preliminary injunction asking the Tennessee Department of Corrections to ensure that his implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) is deactivated before his execution. A hearing on the matter is set for July 14 in Davidson County Chancery Court. Black’s lawyers have been battling to save his life, arguing he is ineligible for capital punishment due to his intellectual disability, dementia and severe brain damage. They also have asked the Tennessee Supreme Court to weigh in and reverse a lower court’s decision that declined to decide whether he is ineligible for the death penalty.