Arizona: Judge Blocks Execution Due to Drug Issue

A federal judge in Phoenix has blocked Tuesday's scheduled execution of an Arizona death row inmate, saying more time is needed to consider the inmate's challenge of the state's use of a knockout drug from an unidentified source.

Jeffrey Landrigan's lawyers contend he could be suffocated painfully if the sodium thiopental doesn't work effectively.

Jeffrey Landrigan (left) was sentenced to death in 1990 after being convicted of 1st-degree felony murder in the strangulation and stabbing death of Chester Dyer of Phoenix.

U.S. District Judge Roslyn Silver issued her order blocking the execution on Monday afternoon.

Source: Associated Press, October 25, 2010

Arizona submits info on execution drugs to judge

Arizona prosecutors have submitted additional information on drugs to be used in an execution to a federal judge, asking her to keep it out of the hands of lawyers for an inmate scheduled for execution Tuesday.

Prosecutors say state law mandates confidentiality for information on the drugs' manufacturers and that inmate Jeffrey Landrigan's claims that one drug might not be effective are just speculation.

Landrigan's lawyers are expected to urge U.S. District Judge Roslyn Silver to deny the confidentiality request and release the information.

They say Landrigan could be suffocated painfully if the knockout drug doesn't work effectively.

Landrigan was sentenced to death for the 1989 strangulation and stabbing death of Chester Dyer of Phoenix.

Source: KVOA News, October 25, 2010

Court Battles Continue on Eve of Arizona Execution

Arizona death row inmate Jeffrey Landrigan's scheduled execution is just a day away, and action is expected in both state and federal courts Monday as his lawyers try to block it.

The Arizona Supreme Court has an appeal of a trial judge's refusal to hold a hearing on newly available DNA evidence in Landrigan's case. And a federal judge is considering a challenge based on the state's use of an execution drug that apparently came from a foreign source.

Gov. Jan Brewer has announced she is rejecting the clemency board's recommendation for a reprieve to temporarily delay the execution scheduled Tuesday at a state prison in Florence.

Landrigan was sentenced to death for the 1989 strangulation and stabbing death of Chester Dyer of Phoenix.

Source: myfoxphoenix.com, October 25, 2010