3 prisoners were to have been executed this week in Texas

3 prisoners were to have been executed this week in Texas. But none of them were. The three prisoners are: Mr. Vickers, 58; Kevin Lee Zimmerman, 42; and Bobby Lee Hines, 31. Mr. Vickers was convicted of shooting a grocer coming home with a bag of money in 1993. Mr. Zimmerman was convicted of stabbing another man to death in a motel in 1987. Mr. Hines was convicted of robbing and strangling a young woman in her apartment in 1991. Two developments in particular intrigued lawyers for several of the defendants: the hesitation of the Fifth Circuit to rule at a crucial moment and a decision by Justice Antonin Scalia of the Supreme Court to grant a stay to another of the 3 Texas death row inmates the following day. The lawsuit claimed the men would suffer cruel and unusual punishment from pancuronium bromide and other drugs in the lethal injections because they mask pain and suffering and have been outlawed for euthanizing pets. The court summarily dismissed the suit as a habeas corpus challenge that had been already rejected. On Tuesday, with Mr. Vickers set to die between 6 p.m. and midnight, the appeal went to a panel of the Fifth Circuit. The judges called the evidence on the drugs seemingly stronger than that previously offered but said they were bound by the court's precedents to also reject the appeal as repetitious. Only the full 17-member court could overturn a precedent, so about 4 p.m. Mr. Marcus and Mr. Dow filed for a hearing by the entire court. They also e-mailed, but did not legally file, their appeal papers to the United States Supreme Court. Hours before, Mr. Hines, who was scheduled to die on Thursday, won a reprieve by a ruling from the state Court of Criminal Appeals, which granted him a stay on grounds of possible mental retardation. Mr. Vickers' warrant was allowed to expire, which effectively granted him a reprieve for at least 30 days - the soonest it could be reissued. Mr. Zimmerman was set to die the next night, Wednesday. Mr. Dow and Mr. Marcus formally filed the appeal papers they had sent by e-mail to the Supreme Court. Minutes before 6 p.m. Justice Scalia ordered Mr. Zimmerman's execution stayed pending further review.