Appeals court delays Zagorski execution
A federal appeals court agreed to delay death row inmate Edmund Zagorski’s execution Wednesday, a surprising move that capped a day of legal wrangling over the method and timing of his death.
More developments are likely to come quickly as the state and defense attorneys continue to battle over the execution, which had been scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday. Zagorski’s fate hangs in the balance. Here’s where things stood Wednesday night:
❚ The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to delay Zagorski’s execution while they considered his claims of ineffective counsel. The state did not immediately respond to the stay — it’s possible the U.S. Supreme Court could intervene and allow the
execution to proceed as scheduled.
❚ A parallel request to delay the execution based on a challenge to Tennessee’s lethal injection drugs is pending at the U.S. Supreme Court.
❚ Separately, Zagorski continued to push for the use of the electric chair if he is executed. He asked the state to use it this week following a Tennessee Supreme Court decision that found the lethal injection drugs to be constitutional.
❚ The state rejected that request, saying Zagorski had missed the deadline to choose the electric chair. Death row inmates can choose the electric chair if their crime occurred before 1999. While state law doesn’t give a deadline, prison protocol requires notification two weeks before an execution date.
❚ Zagorski’s lawyers struck back Wednesday with an emergency motion in federal court. They argued the state must honor his preference for the electric chair.
❚ The state said the electric-chair law gave the Tennessee Department of Corrections the authority to establish a protocol for electrocution. The state argued the two-week deadline was a lawful part of that protocol. U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger was considering the emergency motion on Wednesday.
❚ Meanwhile, prison officials continued preparing for the scheduled execution, even as the method and timing remained in question. Zagorski notified officials he would forgo a last meal.
In a statement, federal public defender Kelley Henry said Zagorski’s request for the electric chair came late because he was waiting to see if the Tennessee Supreme Court would rule lethal injection drugs unconstitutional.
When they ruled the state could move forward with lethal injections, he asked for the electric chair.
In the emergency motion filed in federal court, Zagorski’s attorneys argued the state should be prepared to use the electric chair.