Arkansas vows to carry out executions

Arkansas officials vowed to carry out a double execution later this week after the U.S. Supreme Court delivered a setback to the state’s plan to resume capital punishment for the first time in nearly 12 years by refusing to lift an order sparing an inmate just minutes before his death warrant expired.

The court’s decision was the second time Don Davis has been granted a reprieve shortly before execution. It capped a chaotic day of legal wrangling in state and federal courts Monday as Arkansas tried to clear obstacles to carrying out its first executions since 2005.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson had set an aggressive schedule of eight executions by the end of April, when the state’s supply of midazolam, a key lethal injection drug, expires. If the state had been able to move ahead with its 11-day execution plan, it would have been the most inmates put to death by any state in such a short period since the high court reinstated the death penalty in 1976.

The executions of Davis and Bruce Ward were supposed to be the first two, but Ward received a stay from the Arkansas Supreme Court on Monday and the state did not appeal the decision. The state did ask the U.S. Supreme Court to lift a stay granted to Davis, but the high court’s last-minute refusal ensured he would not enter the death chamber Monday.

Despite the setbacks, Attorney General Leslie Rutledge said Arkansas would press ahead with other planned executions, including two set for Thursday — Ledell Lee and Stacey Johnson.