"Ariz. top court halts execution to consider appeal," is from the Arizona Republic, via USA Today.
The Arizona Supreme Court on Wednesday morning issued a temporary stay of double-murderer Joseph Rudolph Wood's execution so it could consider a last-minute petition for post-conviction relief.
The court's stay was to remain in effect until at least 1 p.m. Wednesday.
"I would anticipate there would be some formal ruling, but it may take a few hours,'' Arizona Department of Corrections Director Charles Ryan said.
Preparations for Wood's 10 a.m. Wednesday execution at the state prison in Florence were underway when the stay was ordered. Wood, 55, killed two people in 1989.
Earlier, AP filed, "Supreme Court denies inmate's last-ditch appeal," via the San Francisco Chronicle.
The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for Arizona to carry out its third execution in the last year Wednesday following a closely watched First Amendment fight over the secrecy surrounding lethal injection drugs.
Joseph Rudolph Wood, 55, was scheduled to be put to death at the state prison in Florence amid new scrutiny nationwide over lethal injections after several controversial executions.
Wood's lawyers used a new legal tactic in which defense attorneys claim their clients' First Amendment rights are being violated by the government's refusal to reveal details about lethal injection drugs. Wood's lawyers were seeking information about the two-drug combination that will be used to kill him, including the makers of the drugs.
Earlier coverage of Joseph Wood's case begins at the link.
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