BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Sept. 28 (UPI) -- An Alabama man, hours from being executed, was granted a 45-day stay because the state plans to change its lethal injection procedure.
"The evidence is overwhelming that Thomas Arthur is guilty and he will be executed for his crime," Alabama Gov. Bob Riley said Thursday in granting the stay, his first since taking office in 2003, The Birmingham (Ala.) News reported Friday.
Alabama authorities decided to change execution procedures after a federal judge in Tennessee, which uses the same procedure, last week ruled Tennessee's injection procedure violated constitutional provisions prohibiting cruel and unusual punishment.
Arthur is to be executed for the 1982 murder-for-hire killing of Troy Wicker Jr. Arthur, who has maintained his innocence, was tried and convicted three times, with the first two convictions overturned on appeal, the News reported. Arthur's lawyers said they will use the stay to pursue DNA testing not available in the 1980s.
