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September 8, 2010

Judge won't lift execution stay for Okla. man

Associated Press

OKLAHOMA CITY — A federal judge has declined to lift a stay of execution for an Oklahoma inmate convicted of killing his great-uncle.



Attorney General Drew Edmondson had asked U.S. District Judge Stephen Friot to lift the stay for Jeffrey David Matthews after the state acquired enough sodium thiopental to execute him.



A nationwide shortage of the anesthetic had led Oklahoma to alter its lethal injection procedures, prompting the stay of Matthews' Aug. 17 execution.



The Oklahoman reports that Friot on Tuesday decided to keep the stay in place until after an Oct. 15 hearing. He says that will allow Matthews' attorneys to argue any issues they believe have not been addressed.



Matthews was convicted of the 1994 murder of 77-year-old Otis Earl Short.

 

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