WASHINGTON, June 16 (UPI) -- The U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday threw out a judge's stay of execution for a Maryland convict, allowing the lethal injection of Steven Oaken to go forward.
The warrant for Oaken's execution was due to expire at midnight Friday. But a federal judge blocked the execution, saying the state had been late telling Oaken's attorneys about its lethal injection procedure.
A majority of the nine-member Supreme Court threw out the judge's stay. Justices John Paul Stevens, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer indicated they voted to keep the stay.
The high court also rejected a request for its own stay and a review of Oaken's case.
Oaken is due to be executed for the death of Dawn Marie Garvin, a 20-year-old Baltimore County newlywed and college student. She was the first of three women Oaken killed during a two-week period in 1987.
