In one case, a state court halted an execution scheduled for Thursday night, while a state judge separately barred the use of a lethal injection drug, potentially blocking all of the planned executions. A third execution scheduled for next week was previously halted by a federal judge. In its order, the state Supreme Court narrowly blocked the execution of Stacey E. Johnson, 47, who has been on death row since 1994. “I am both surprised and disappointed at the last minute stay by the Arkansas Supreme Court,” Hutchinson said in a statement Wednesday night. This story, first published at 9:35 p.m., has been updated with Hutchinson’s reaction to the Arkansas Supreme Court stay.

Source: Washington Post April 20, 2017 01:36 UTC