Lethal Injection Appeal Rejected
A federal appeals court has refused to grant a rehearing in a case challenging Missouri’s lethal injection procedure.
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to review a panel decision that upheld the procedure last June, the Associated Press reports.
Inmate Michael Taylor had succeeded at the trial level, when a lower court judge suspended executions. The suspension order could be lifted within days unless the appeals court agrees to a request to keep it in place pending further appeals.
Taylor’s lawyer, Ginger Anders, said she would seek U.S. Supreme Court review. Anders is a Jenner & Block lawyer handling the case pro bono, according to the firm’s Web site.
“This has a better shot than most,” she told AP. “It’s an extremely important issue, one that is going on in a lot of states.”
