Judge blocks execution after company objects to use of drug

LASVEGAS » A Nevada judge effectively blocked the execution of a twotime killer Wednesday after a pharmaceutical company objected to the use of one of its drugs to put someone to death.

Clark County District Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez disallowed the drug in a ruling that came less than nine hours before Scott Raymond Dozier, 47, was to be executed by injection with a three-chemical combination never before tried in the U.S.

State prison officials called off the 8 p.m. execution. They could appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court.

Dozier had repeatedly expressed his desire to be put to death and had stopped fighting for his life. His attorney did not immediately respond to messages for comment.

At a hearing earlier in the day, New Jersey-based Alvogen urged the judge to block the use of its sedative midazolam, saying the state illegally secured the product through “subterfuge.”