"Wash. high court lifts stay of execution for Brown," is the title of the AP dispatch filed by Rachel La Corte.
Washington state's Supreme Court has lifted the stay of execution for a death row inmate who claimed the state's method of lethal injection violated constitutional bans on cruel and unusual punishment.
The high court unanimously ruled Thursday that Cal Coburn Brown's claims are moot because the state Department of Corrections changed its method of execution earlier this year from a three-drug cocktail to a one-drug system.
The Seattle Times has posted, "State Supreme Court lifts stay of execution for convicted murderer." It's written by Jonathan Martin.
The Washington State Supreme Court upheld the state's use of lethal injection for condemned inmates on Thursday, likely resulting in at least one execution in September.In a unanimous opinion, written by Justice Debra Stephens, the court denied an appeal by death row inmates Cal Coburn Brown, Jonathan Gentry and Darold Stenson that sought to have the method of lethal injection declared unconstitutional.
A trial judge in Thurston County last year upheld the constitutionality of the lethal injection method, a three-drug cocktail that has been challenged around the country as meting out cruel and unusual punishment.
After the decision, the state Department of Corrections revised its method to a one-drug method, making the appeal moot.
In March, Washington became the second state to adopt a single-drug lethal injection procedure; coverage begins here.
Ohio changed its lethal injection protocol to use a single-drug following a botched execution attempt, last year. The first single-drug lethal injection execution was carried out by the state on December 8, 2009. Ohio has carried out 7 executions under the new protocol. Related posts are in the lethal injection index.
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