A federal appeals court is refusing to block the execution of Alabama death row inmate Tommy Arthur.
The Latest on the scheduled execution of Alabama prisoner Tommy Arthur (all times local) :
2: 08 p.m.
A federal appeals court is refusing to block the execution of Alabama death row inmate Tommy Arthur.
The 11th U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a stay requested by Arthur. Its order was issued just hours before Arthur is set to die by lethal injection on Thursday night.
Arthur was challenging the state’s use of the sedative midazolam at the start of the execution procedure. Arthur claims the drug is ineffective and will let him feel the pain of drugs meant to stop his heart.
His challenge is now expected to go to the U. S. Supreme Court.
The 75-year-old Arthur is on his eighth execution date. He was convicted in the 1982 murder-for-hire slaying of Troy Wicker.
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1: 10 p.m.
The Alabama Supreme Court is refusing to halt the execution of an inmate, just hours before he is scheduled to die.
The court on Thursday rejected a stay requested by inmate Tommy Arthur. He is set to be put to death by injection Thursday night.
One justice dissented without comment.
Arthur was seeking more time to pursue a lawsuit claiming Alabama improperly left key decisions regarding lethal injection procedures to state prison officials rather than legislators.
Arthur’s attorneys also asked the U. S. Supreme Court to order that defense lawyers have access to a telephone during the execution. The lawyers say they want to be able to contact judges if the execution appears to go awry.
The 75-year-old Arthur is on his eighth execution date. He was convicted in the 1982 murder-for-hire slaying of Troy Wicker.
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4 a.m.
Alabama is set to execute a man who has had planned lethal injections delayed by the courts seven times.
Seventy-five-year-old Tommy Arthur is scheduled to be put to death Thursday for the 1982 murder-for-hire of Troy Wicker.
Judy Wicker initially told police a black man broke into the house, raped her and killed her husband. After her conviction, she testified that Arthur killed her husband while wearing a wig and makeup.
Arthur’s legal team has made last-minute appeals seeking to stay the execution. They argued the state intends to use an unreliable sedative and has refused DNA testing on the wig.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said Arthur is an egregious example of how a convicted murderer can manipulate the legal system „to avoid justice.“
Arthur maintains his innocence.
