Judge delays execution to hear drug challenge
ATLANTA — A Fulton County judge stopped Monday’s scheduled execution of Warren Lee Hill to consider a legal challenge to a state law prohibiting the release of information on Georgia’s supply of lethal injection drugs.
Superior Court Judge Gail S. Tusan issued a temporary stay until a hearing could Thursday morning, said Hill’s attorney Brian Kammer. The execution could be rescheduled for as soon as Thursday evening if the judge decides to lift the stay.
“Today, the court found that more time is needed to explore Mr. Hill’s complaint, which raises serious concerns about the extreme secrecy surrounding the execution process in Geor- gia,” Kammer said in a statement. “There is far too much we do not know about how the state intends to proceed in this, the most extreme act a government can take against a citizen.”
The lawsuit filed Friday focuses on a state law that recently took effect, which prohibits the release of identifying information about any person or company participating in an execution. Supporters of the law have said it’s necessary to protect participants from retaliation and could help the state obtain drugs from companies or pharmacies that might not want people to know they are involved in executions.
Nationally, it has become increasingly difficult for states to obtain a lethal injection drug because the manufacturer has said it doesn’t want it used in executions.