Thursday, April 27, 2017

US Supreme Court won’t block Arkansas execution, 4th lethal injection in 8 days

VARNER, Ark. (AP) — The Latest on Arkansas’ effort to execute a fourth inmate before its supply of a lethal injection drug expires on Sunday (all times local):

10:15 p.m.

The U.S. Supreme Court says it won’t stop Arkansas from executing Kenneth Williams, rejecting claims that the inmate is intellectually disabled and ineligible for the death penalty.

Williams’ execution is set for Thursday night. He would be the fourth inmate put to death by Arkansas in the past eight days in a compressed schedule because one of the state’s lethal drugs expires Sunday.

Williams was sentenced to death for the killing of a former deputy warden after Williams escaped from prison in 1999. Williams was being held for the death of a college cheerleader when he escaped in a 500-gallon barrel of hog slop.

10 p.m.

A spokesman says Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson is consulting with the state’s attorney general to determine the state’s next moves as it awaits a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court on a condemned inmate’s last appeals.

The death warrant for Kenneth Williams expires at midnight, and he has several legal challenges pending with the high court.

Hutchinson’s spokesman J.R. Davis says the governor planned to speak with Attorney General Leslie Rutledge to discuss their “next steps” regarding Williams’ execution. There are no current stays in place.

Arkansas has executed three inmates in the past eight days in a schedule that Hutchinson set because one of the state’s lethal drugs expires at the end of the month.

Source: The Latest: US Supreme Court won’t block Arkansas execution


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