Mississippi executions still in legal limbo

JACKSON, Miss. (WCBI) – A federal judge says he is waiting on a U. S. Supreme Court ruling before he decides if executions in Mississippi will resume.

Five death row inmates, including the man convicted of the 2000 kidnapping and murder of an Itawamba County teen, are challenging the new drug used for lethal injections.

Mississippi Southern District Judge Henry Wingate says it would be pointless to rule on the petition filed by Eddie Loden and the other prisoners until the country’s highest court sets the precedent.

A Missouri case before the U.S. Supreme Court will decide if a phenobarbital injection is cruel and unusual punishment.

The death row inmates say there is not enough research to prove the phenobarbital injections won’t cause a lingering and painful execution.