The AP report is, "Del. prepares to execute first death row inmate since 2005, requests to halt execution pending," by Jessica Gresko. It's via the Republic.
Delaware is moving closer to executing its first prisoner since 2005 as time runs out for the legal appeals of a man convicted of killing a woman with an ax.
Robert Jackson III is scheduled to die by lethal injection early Friday, between 12:01 a.m. and 3 a.m. On Wednesday, the Delaware Supreme Court and a federal judge in Wilmington both rejected requests by Jackson's lawyers to halt his execution. Now it's up to the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia and the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether to allow the execution to proceed.
And:
Like other states, Delaware said it would use pentobarbital after a nationwide shortage of another key execution drug, sodium thiopental, the first of three drugs Delaware was using to carry out executions. Supplies of sodium thiopental dried up after the drug's only U.S. manufacturer ceased production. As a result, the Delaware Department of Correction changed its procedures in May to allow for the use of pentobarbital. Both drugs are used to anesthetize a prisoner before two other lethal chemicals are administered.
Jackson's lawyers tried to argue that his execution should be stayed so he could challenge the addition of pentobarbital to the state's execution procedure. Using pentobarbital creates an unconstitutional risk of pain and suffering, one of Jackson's lawyers argued, because it might not properly anesthetize a person before the two remaining drugs are administered.
That argument was rejected by U.S. District Court Judge Sue Robinson late Wednesday, who sided with lawyers for the state of Delaware. Robinson concluded that the state's use of pentobarbital is not likely to cause pain and suffering during an execution because officials check that the individual is unconscious before continuing with the remaining drugs.
"There has been no affirmative evidence presented that the administration of pentobarbital as the first drug in Delaware's three-drug protocol creates a demonstrated risk of severe pain," Robinson wrote.
She refused to halt Jackson's execution and rejected his request to reopen a legal challenge to Delaware's execution procedures.
"Jackson loses two appeals for stay; execution set for early Friday," is by Esteban Parra for the Wilmington News Journal.
For nearly two decades, convicted ax murderer Robert W. Jackson III has fended off execution by lethal injection.
But his options were running out late Wednesday afternoon when the Delaware Supreme Court and U.S. District Court denied requests for stays of execution.
What's left is whether Gov. Jack Markell or other federal courts decide to intervene in the execution, which is scheduled for between midnight and 3 a.m. Friday for the 1992 killing of 47-year-old Elizabeth Girardi during a robbery at her Hockessin home.
As of late Wednesday, Markell's office had not received any requests for a reprieve, spokeswoman Catherine Rossi said.
Because of that, Jackson stands to be the first person executed in Delaware since Brian D. Steckel was put to death on Nov. 4, 2005.
And:
If the state goes ahead with the execution, Jackson will become the 15th person to be put to death in Delaware since 1992, the year that marked Delaware's first execution since the state reinstated the death penalty in 1961, according to the state Department of Correction.
During Steckel's execution, DOC officials appeared to encounter procedural problems. While lethal injections are supposed to cause nearly instantaneous death, Steckel lingered for 12 minutes and, at one point, looked up at prison officials and said, "I didn't think it would take this long."
That set off a series of filings, including from Jackson, who claimed the chemicals used by the state and the apparent lack of training for those carrying out the execution would make his punishment cruel and unusual.
Earlier coverage of the Delaware lethal injection challenge begins at the link.
Comments