Federal court halts Missouri inmate's execution
Source: AP-Excite
By JIM SALTER
ST. LOUIS (AP) — A federal appeals court panel granted a temporary halt to the execution of Missouri inmate Russell Bucklew on Tuesday evening, hours before he was scheduled to die for killing a southeast Missouri man in 1996, citing concerns that Bucklew could suffer during lethal injection due to a rare medical condition.
"Bucklew's unrebutted medical evidence demonstrates the requisite sufficient likelihood of unnecessary pain and suffering beyond the constitutionally permissible amount inherent in all executions," the ruling from the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals read.
Cheryl Pilate, an attorney for Bucklew, said she was "relieved" by the ruling, though it doesn't necessarily mean the execution is off. The panel's ruling could be overturned by the full appeals court, or by the U.S. Supreme Court.
It wasn't immediately clear if the state would appeal. Messages left with the Missouri Attorney General's office were not immediately returned.
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Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20140520/missouri_execution-83955eadf5.html
FILE - In this Feb. 9, 2014 file photo provided by the Missouri Department of Corrections is Russell Bucklew who is scheduled to die for killing a romantic rival as part of a crime spree in southeast Missouri in 1996. Bucklew, who suffers from a congenital condition that causes weakened and malformed blood vessels, told the Associated Press Friday, May 16, 2014 that he is scared that the lethal drug could cause him to suffer or be left alive but brain-dead. His would be the first execution since Oklahoma inmate Clayton Lockett died of a heart attack 43 minutes after a vein collapsed following injection. (AP Photo/Missouri Department of Corrections, File)
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