As the Missouri Supreme Court decides whether to set execution dates for six condemned killers, attorneys for death row inmates are citing concerns over the state's new one-drug lethal injection method as among the reasons why the executions should not proceed.
Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster last month asked the Missouri Supreme Court to set execution dates for up to 19 condemned men. Court records released Thursday to The Associated Press show that the court has advised attorneys for six of the inmates that they have until June 29 to show why an execution date should not be set.
In separate filings, attorneys for inmates David Barnett and Herbert Smulls raise concerns about Missouri's execution protocol change that will use the anesthetic propofol instead of the previous three-drug method.
