Alabama Man closer to execution

HOUSTON (AP) — An Alabama man on Texas death row for the drug-related slayings of four people in Houston more than two decades ago has lost a federal court appeal and moved closer to execution. Arthur Brown, who turns 44 next week, argued he should be provided $7,500 to pay for a mitigation specialist to help with his clemency petition. The specialist estimated the investigation would cost $20,000. A federal district court refused, and the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday upheld the lower court's rejection. Evidence showed Brown, from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, was part of a ring shuttling drugs between Texas and Alabama. Six people were shot, four fatally, in what was seen as an attempt in June 1992 to eliminate a Houston couple as middlemen in the drug deals.