A judge has temporarily blocked the pending execution...

A judge has temporarily blocked the pending execution of Robert Bacon Jr., saying Gov. Mike Easley might face a legal conflict that could affect more than 100 other death-penalty cases. Superior Court Judge David LaBarre ordered the state to halt execution proceedings in Bacon's case pending a May 24 hearing on a class-action lawsuit. Bacon, 41, was scheduled to die by injection early Friday for fatally stabbing Glennie Clark in Onslow County in 1987. The lawsuit contends it's unconstitutional to execute prisoners because Easley has a conflict in his former role as attorney general, handling appeals for the state, and his current job as governor holding clemency hearings.