Death row killers given stay of execution in lethal injection dispute

Inmate: Bruce Ward
REUTERS
Michael Howie18 April 2017

Two death row killers have been given stays of execution by judges in the US state of Arkansas.

Don Davis and Bruce Ward were due to be executed last night as the state sought to carry out lethal injections on seven prisoners before its supply of a drug expired.

Their lawyers had argued they were mentally unfit to face execution and were denied proper assessment.

But there was a victory for the state when a federal court lifted an order that blocked all seven executions because of suffering caused by the lethal injection.

Stay of execution: Don Davis
REUTERS

Arkansas wants to carry out the executions - its first since 2005 - before its supply of the lethal injection drug midazolam expires at the end of April.

Governor Asa Hutchinson said the state would continue to push for the other lethal injections to be carried out.

Two inmates are due to be put to death on Thursday.

“While this has been an exhausting day for all involved, tomorrow we will continue to fight back on last-minute appeals and efforts to block justice for the victims’ families,” Mr Hutchinson said.

Davis was given the death penalty for shooting a woman as he burgled her home, while Ward strangled a teenage shop clerk.

Critics have called the planned executions an inhumane “assembly line”.

The use of midazolam is controversial with opponents of the death penalty saying not effective at rendering the inmate unconscious.

It was used in executions in three US states in 2014 that took longer than usual.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT