McNeil -LRB- 08-7369 -RRB- . But Justice Clarence Thomas took issue with his colleagues ' conclusions . `` It is the crime and not the punishment imposed by the jury or the delay in execution that was ` unacceptably cruel , ' '' he responded . Thomas took time in his concurrence to detail the graphic crime that led to the conviction of Thompson and his co-defendant . The men had held Sally Ivester and another woman in a motel room and were demanding money from the victim 's families . Ivester had promised she could raise hundreds of dollars but was only able to secure $ 25 . That enraged the men who savagely beat the woman with a belt , chair leg and nightstick , causing internal injuries . She was also burned with cigarettes . The other woman witnessed the murder and said she feared for her life if she tried to leave . Thompson and his co-defendant both pleaded guilty but the state 's high court initially tossed out Thompson 's sentence . The man 's lawyer had told the defendant if he accepted responsibility for the crime , he would not get the death penalty
WASHINGTON -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Two Supreme Court justices on opposite sides of the ideological aisle exchanged tough words Monday over the fate of a Florida murderer who has been on death row for 32 years . Siding with the court 's majority , Justice Clarence Thomas described brutal details of a Florida slaying . The high court has refused to hear the appeal of William Thompson , who had plead guilty twice in the March 1976 kidnapping and torture-murder of a woman . His case and subsequent appeals have been litigated since , but a new execution date has not been set . A key part of his request to be spared lethal injection is that three decades as a capital inmate constitutes cruel and unusual punishment . `` Our experience during the past three decades has demonstrated that delays in state-sponsored killings are inescapable and that executing defendants after such is unacceptably cruel , '' said Justice John Paul Stevens , who disagreed with the court 's decision to allow the execution to proceed . He was supported by Justice Stephen Breyer in his objection to the court 's ruling on Monday in the case , Thompson v.