USA - Ohio. Judge Extends Temporary Halt To Ohio Executions

Judge Extends Temporary Halt To Ohio Executions As Debate Over New Drug Combination Continues----The moratorium, which was supposed to end this week, has been extended to Jan. 15. A federal judge has extended a months-long halt on executions in Ohio into 2015 as debate over the state's new 2-drug protocol in lethal injections continued. The 2 1/2 month moratorium issued by federal judge Gregory Frost in May was to end this week. But in an order issued Friday, Frost extended the temporary halt on executions to January 15. This will delay 4 executions in Ohio scheduled in September, October, November and early January. The moratorium was issued to allow time for the state and inmates' lawyers to address any questions about or challenges to the state's lethal injection protocol, which was revised after Dennis McGuire's prolonged execution in January. According to witnesses, McGuire gasped, choked and said his whole body was burning after being injected with an untested 2-drug cocktail of midazolam and hyrdropmorphone. He died after 26 minutes. After his family sued the state, the Department of Corrections announced April it would use the same 2-drug protocol but increase the doses of the sedative and painkiller. This prompted Frost to issue the moratorium so attorneys of inmates could argue against the state's decision. In Frost's order, dated August 8, he wrote that he was extending the stay because "the continuing need for discovery and necessary preparations related to the adoption and implementation of the new execution protocol that became effective April 28."