It's often said that the only things certain in life are death and taxes.
Here's another: Andre Staton won't be executed on Oct. 10 for killing Altoona resident Beverly Yohn in 2004. He was convicted of the stabbing death in 2006 and sentenced to death.
Last week, Gov. Tom Corbett signed an execution warrant for Staton, setting the date for Oct. 10. But Staton has no reason to worry: The execution warrant is just a formality in a long, drawn-out process for Pennsylvania's death penalty.
Hundreds of execution warrants have been signed by Pennsylvania governors over the years, generally with the knowledge that the action just starts the clock in another round of appeals.
Corbett has signed 19 warrants, according to the governor's office.
Since 1978, when it reinstated the death penalty, only three people in Pennsylvania - two in 1995 and one in 1999 - have been executed, and all were because they decided to forgo appeals and wanted to die.
Even that action doesn't ensure an execution will happen, as developments in the William Wright III case show.
Wright, who was sentenced to death for the 1998 murder of James Mowery of Altoona, wanted to fire his attorneys, stop his appeals and have his execution carried out. But family members and others won a ruling that Wright is not competent to represent himself in court, ensuring that more appeals will be coming.
The last person to be executed against his will in Pennsylvania was in 1962.
When - or if - Staton is executed for killing Yohn is anyone's guess. But it won't happen this October.
