Federal District Judge Roslyn Silver issued a Temporary Restraining Order against Arizona yesterday over the issue of the source of the state's lethal injection drug. The state appealed the order, and early this morning the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld Judge Silver's ruling, issuing this Order. Both documents are in Adobe .pdf format.
"US appeals court rejects Arizona request to lift stay of death row inmate's execution," is the latest AP post, via Google News.
A federal appeals court has denied Arizona's request to lift a judge's order blocking the execution of an inmate convicted of stabbing and strangling a man in 1989.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled early Tuesday that the state had failed to provide enough information to show why the court should lift the stay imposed by a federal district judge on Monday. Arizona had scheduled the execution for Tuesday at 10 a.m. MST.
But Jeffrey Landrigan's lawyers contend he would suffocate painfully if a knockout drug doesn't render him unconscious before other drugs are administered to paralyze his muscles and stop his heart.
In issuing the stay Monday, U.S. District Judge Roslyn Silver said more time was needed to consider that argument.
An earlier AP report, "Judge blocks Arizona execution, state appeals," by Paul Davenport is via the Christian Science Monitor.
Landrigan's lawyers contend he could be suffocated painfully if the sodium thiopental didn't render him unconscious.
Silver ruled that was a legitimate concern and blocked the execution of Landrigan, who was convicted of the 1989 strangulation and stabbing death of Chester Dyer of Phoenix in a killing prosecutors said was part of a robbery.
The assumption of the state's three-drug execution protocol "is that the sodium thiopental will, in fact, be sodium thiopental and it will operate in its intended manner," Silver wrote.
The drug is in short supply nationally.
A ruling also was due from the state Supreme Court on the separate issue of whether Landrigan is entitled to a hearing on newly available DNA evidence. The justices were considering an appeal of a trial judge's refusal to hold a hearing.
Landrigan's lawyers said the new test results, which found DNA from only Dyer and a person other than Landrigan on certain crime-scene evidence, bolster his claim of innocence and justify holding a hearing. Prosecutors contend that another person was present at the murder in Dyer's apartment and the new test results don't change anything.
The state Supreme Court was expected to rule on the DNA issue by Tuesday morning, spokeswoman Jennifer Liewer said. The justices understand the urgency of the matter, she said.
A 9th Circuit panel on Monday rejected Landrigan's request for a stay of execution based on the DNA issue. The new evidence failed to show that Landrigan didn't participate in the killing, the order said.
On the drug issue, Silver also ordered prosecutors to provide Landrigan's lawyers with information about the manufacturers of the drugs to be used. Responding to an earlier order by Silver, prosecutors had submitted that information only to her, asking that it be kept confidential.
Landrigan attorney Dale Baich welcomed Silver's order.
"Obviously the court has some concerns here and wants to take a closer look at this issue," he said.
"Appeals court upholds Arizona execution restraining order," is Michael Kiefer's report for today's Arizona Republic.
A nationwide shortage of the barbiturate used in lethal injections has raised questions about where Arizona obtained the drug.
Silver ordered the Arizona Department of Corrections and the state Attorney General's Office to immediately turn over information she had requested Saturday night about the drugs.
The state so far has refused to do so under a statute concealing the identity of executioners and all people with "ancillary" functions needed to carry out an execution.
Silver did not buy that argument. But Goddard intends to stand firm, saying, "We believe - and our client (the Corrections Department) is adamant - that further disclosure is not permitted."
The legal maneuvers promised to continue through the night Monday.
Goddard vowed to appeal Silver's stay all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court to try to overturn the ruling in time to meet today's 10 a.m. execution time in Florence.
If the execution does not take place within 24 hours of that time, the state will have to return to the Arizona Supreme Court for a new death warrant, a process that could take months.
AFP posts, "US execution blocked in row over lethal drug source."
In the midst of an anesthetic shortage that has already forced postponement of lethal injection executions across the United States, Arizona says it has the drug in hand but is refusing to disclose where it was manufactured.
Jeffrey Landrigan, sentenced to death for a 1989 murder, was scheduled to be executed on Tuesday but his lawyers filed suit, arguing that he could die in great pain if the sodium thiopental is contaminated and doesn't work.
Federal judge Roslyn Silver ordered Arizona on Saturday to give the name of the drug manufacturer to Landrigan's lawyers, but the state prosecutors refused, citing confidentiality laws for executions.
Silver blocked the execution on Monday, saying more time is needed to consider the case, as the unidentified origins of the drug meant it could have been contaminated.
"The court is unable to determine whether the drug was produced by a foreign company that follows standard operating procedures for the drug's manufacture or that has no history of contamination in manufacturing the product," he said.
"The balance of equities favors plaintiff because a stay could have been avoided had the state timely disclosed the source of its sodium thiopental."
CNN posts, "Judge puts off Arizona execution, saying state not forthcoming."
The New York Times has a brief item, "Arizona: Drug Question Holds Up Execution," by John Schwartz.
Fierce Pharma Manufacturing posts, "Inmate delays execution through drug-source protest," by George Miller.
Earlier coverage begins with this post.
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