USA - Arizona. Execution method of lethal injection approved

Execution method of lethal injection approved. U.S. District Court Judge Neil Wake today removed a major obstacle to executions in Arizona, ruling that the state's lethal-injection procedure is similar to one approved by the U.S. Supreme Court. Executions have been on hold in Arizona since November 2007, when the Arizona Supreme Court postponed the death of Jeffrey Landrigan pending the U.S. Supreme Court's analysis of how inmates were put to death in Kentucky. The high court's ruling approved the Kentucky protocol, but left the door open for other death-row defendants to question how it was done in their states. Federal public defenders in Phoenix quickly filed such an appeal in Maricopa County Superior Court on Landrigan's behalf. And they filed a nearly identical suit in federal court on behalf of nine Arizona death-row prisoners who have not yet exhausted their appeals. The two cases have been simultaneously working their way through the courts with similar arguments and nuances tailored to state and federal law. But the federal case was decided first. Judge Wake today ruled in favor of the Arizona protocol. The Superior Court case has yet to be decided, but its outcome likely will be influenced by the federal court decision.