Ky. asks judge to lift bar to executions

Posted: Thu 5:17 PM, Mar 07, 2013

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Prosecutors have asked a judge to lift an order barring executions in Kentucky and said attorneys for Kentucky's death row population are trying to create a legal "Catch 22" that would prevent the state from carrying out capital punishment.

In filings Thursday afternoon, the Kentucky attorney general's office requested that Franklin County Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd dissolve a nearly 3-year-old order preventing the state from enforcing any death sentences. The issue is set for a hearing March 18 in Frankfort.

Earlier this year, Kentucky switched to a single-drug execution instead of using three drugs. The state also has the option of using a two-drug execution if the chemicals necessary for a single-drug lethal injection are not available.

Shepherd halted all executions in 2010 after finding issues with Kentucky's three-drug method.

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