Court scuppers state's plan to carry out 8 executions before supply of lethal injection drug expires
The US Supreme Court has spared the life of an Arkansas inmate at the last minute, scuttling efforts to resume the death penalty in the state after nearly 12 years with a plan to carry out four double executions before its supply of a lethal injection drug expired.
The court's decision to maintain the stay for Don Davis capped a chaotic day of legal wrangling in state and federal courts to clear the primary obstacles Arkansas faced to carrying out its first executions since 2005.
