Edward Schad’s execution, which was scheduled for Wednesday, March 6, has been canceled.

The US Supreme Court refused to lift a stay of execution that had been issued by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.  The appeals court had issued the stay so that Mr. Schad could have a hearing on the question of whether his defense counsel was ineffective.

The US Supreme Court’s vote was 7-2, with Justices Scalia and Alito indicating that they would have allowed the execution to proceed.  To read the court’s order, please click here (PDF).