"Fla. Supreme Court delays execution and orders hearing on new lethal injection drug," is the AP report, via the Tribune.
The Florida Supreme Court on Monday delayed the execution of a man who killed a prison guard while on death row for two other slayings.
The justices also ordered a lower court to hold a hearing on whether a new drug being used in lethal injections effectively renders the condemned unconscious.
Askari Abdullah Muhammad, formerly known as Thomas Knight, was scheduled to be executed Dec. 3. The court delayed that until at least Dec. 27 while hearings are held on a claim that the sedative midazolam hydrochloride doesn't prevent pain after being administered to condemned inmates.
Florida has used midazolam in two executions — William Happ on Oct. 15 and Darius Kimbrough Nov. 12. The state previously used pentobarbital to render prisoners unconscious before drugs that induce paralysis and cardiac arrest are administered.
The Supreme Court said use of the drug will be the only issue to be addressed in lower court hearings to be concluded by Nov. 26. The Supreme Court will then examine the findings and has scheduled arguments in the case for Dec. 18.
The Miami Herald reports, "Miami killer's execution delayed amid questions about new drug," by Steve Bousquet.
In a 5-2 decision, the Florida Supreme Court on Monday ordered that Thomas Knight's scheduled execution be delayed so he can argue that a new drug used to anesthetize a prisoner at the start of a lethal injection could subject him to "serious harm." Knight, also known as Askari Abdullah Muhammad, had been scheduled to die at Florida State Prison on Dec. 3.
Florida is the only state in the U.S. that uses midazolam hydrochloride as an anesthetic in the first stage of a three-drug lethal injection mixture. The new drug replaced pentobarbital after the state Department of Corrections exhausted its supply.
The state's high court stayed Knight's execution until at least Dec. 27 and sent his case back the state's Eighth Judicial Circuit, which includes Bradford County, where he is imprisoned. A circuit court judge must hold a hearing on the inmate's claims and issue a ruling no later than 2 p.m. Nov. 26, two days before Thanksgiving, after which time both sides can file additional arguments.
"Florida Supreme Court halts execution, orders hearing on drug," is by the News Service of Florida.
The drug, the first of three injections, renders the inmate unconscious.
But Muhammad's attorneys have argued that William Frederick Happ, who was executed last month using the new mix, was conscious for an unusually long time while being put to death and moved his head — showing that Muhammad might experience pain while being executed if the new drugs are used.
"We conclude based on the allegations in Muhammad's ... motion that he has raised a factual dispute, not conclusively refuted, as to whether the use of midazolam hydrochloride in Florida?s lethal injection protocol will subject him to a 'substantial risk of serious harm,''' said Monday's court opinion signed by five justices.
The ruling was supported by Justices Barbara Pariente, R. Fred Lewis, Peggy Quince, Jorge Labarga and James E.C. Perry. Those five justices often form the majority in 5-2 splits.
Earlier coverage from Florida begins at the link; also available, a Florida execution earlier this month, and more on lethal injection issues in the state.
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