Mobile, AL – Alabama's top prosecutor urged the U.S. Supreme Court not to block next week's scheduled execution of 61-year-old Phillip Hallford to allow a lower court hearing on lethal injection.
Attorney General Troy King told the high court in a filing Thursday that Alabama's lethal injection protocol meets the standard already approved by the justices when they upheld its use in Kentucky.
King's filing came in response to Hallford's bid to block his March 19 execution. His attorneys say it must be stayed until the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals holds a March 31 hearing in Atlanta on Hallford's lethal injection challenge.
The 11th Circuit last month granted a stay of execution, but King has asked the high court to lift it.
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