California has new death row procedure

SACRAMENTO, Feb. 16 (UPI) -- Under a new death row procedure, doctors will be allowed inside California's death row to supervise lethal injections given to the condemned.

The new procedure, if approved by a federal judge, will apply to condemned killer Michael Morales, who is scheduled for execution next week.

Doctors at San Quentin will be allowed inside the death chamber to check the inmate is unconscious before final doses of the lethal drugs are administered, reports the San Jose Mercury News.

The change comes after U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel ordered the safeguards for Morales, who was sentenced to die for the rape and murder of a teenage girl, the report said. The judge will review the procedure change.

Morales had argued the drugs administered in steps do not reveal the inmate's pain and hence amount to cruel and unusual punishment. His stand is gaining momentum elsewhere in the country, the report said.