UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI EASTERN DIVISION

LEONARD TAYLOR, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) No. 4:23-CV-139 RLW ) RICHARD ADAMS, et al., ) ) Defendants. )

ORDER This matter is before the Court on Plaintiff Leonard Taylor’s Motion for Preliminary Injunction—Stay of Execution (ECF No. 2), and Motion for Preliminary Injunction and/or Temporary Restraining Order (ECF No. 3). The Court having reviewed Plaintiff’s Motions, Defendants’ opposition (ECF No. 7), and the record before it with respect to issuance of a temporary restraining order, preliminary injunctive relief, and request for stay of execution, finds the Motions should be denied based on the reasons stated in Defendants’ opposition, in addition to Plaintiff’s late-breaking change in position and delay in bringing this matter before the Court: [A] party’s inequitable conduct can make equitable relief inappropriate. When a party seeking equitable relief “has violated conscience, or good faith, or other equitable principle, in his prior conduct, then the doors of the court will be shut against him.” Keystone Driller Co. v. General Excavator Co.,

(1933) (quoting J. Pomeroy, Equity Jurisprudence § 397 (4th ed. 1918)). These well- worn principles of equity apply in capital cases just as in all others. Thus, late- breaking changes in position, last-minute claims arising from long-known facts, and other “attempt[s] at manipulation” can provide a sound basis for denying equitable relief in capital cases. Gomez v. United States Dist. Court for Northern Dist. of Cal.,

(1992) (per curiam); see also Hill, 547 U.S., at 584 (“A court considering a stay must also apply a strong equitable presumption against the grant of a stay where a claim could have been brought at such a time as to allow consideration of the merits without requiring entry of a stay.” (internal quotation marks omitted)).

Ramirez v. Collier,

(2022). Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Plaintiff Leonard Taylor’s Motion for Preliminary Injunction—Stay of Execution (ECF No. 2) and Motion for Preliminary Injunction and/or Temporary Restraining Order (ECF No. 3) are DENIED in all respects.

NIE L. WHITE : UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Dated this 7th day of February, 2023.