Story highlights Flurry of legal actions precedes scheduled execution time

Don Davis had been one of eight Arkansas inmates scheduled to die this month

(CNN) An Arkansas death row inmate who had been scheduled for execution Monday was temporarily spared after decisions from the US Supreme Court and Arkansas Supreme Court.

On Monday evening, Don Davis had been given what was to be his last meal at the Cummins Unit, the Arkansas prison that houses the state's execution chamber. As midnight approached, his fate remained unclear pending further court action.

Davis had been one of eight Arkansas inmates scheduled to die this month.

His attorney sought a stay of execution, and on Monday, the Arkansas Supreme Court granted a delay in the executions of Davis and another inmate, Bruce Ward.

But Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge asked the US Supreme Court to overrule the state court to proceed with Davis' execution.

Read More</s>VARNER, Ark. — After a pair of court defeats, the state of Arkansas was forced late Monday to abandon its plan to carry out its first execution in more than a decade. The canceled execution of a condemned prisoner here was a significant setback for the state, which had sought to put eight men to death this month, before its stock of a lethal injection drug expired.

On Monday afternoon, the State Supreme Court stayed the execution of Don W. Davis, who was convicted more than a quarter-century ago of a murder in northwestern Arkansas. Then, about 15 minutes before Mr. Davis’s death warrant was due to expire, the United States Supreme Court refused to overrule the Arkansas jurists, who had voted 4 to 3 to halt the execution.

The decisions do not affect five other executions that are scheduled this month at the Cummins Unit.

Until word of the decision from Washington reached the prison here in rural southeast Arkansas, state officials were optimistic that the justices would allow them to proceed. Witnesses moved across the darkened campus toward the death chamber, and Mr. Davis waited for a lethal injection for hours after he was offered what he had planned as his last meal.</s>An Arkansas death row inmate who had been scheduled for execution Monday was temporarily spared after decisions from the US Supreme Court and Arkansas Supreme Court.

On Monday evening, Don Davis had been given what was to be his last meal at the Cummins Unit, the Arkansas prison that houses the state’s execution chamber. As midnight approached, his fate remained unclear pending further court action.

Davis had been one of eight Arkansas inmates scheduled to die this month.

His attorney sought a stay of execution, and on Monday, the Arkansas Supreme Court granted a delay in the executions of Davis and another inmate, Bruce Ward.

But Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge asked the US Supreme Court to overrule the state court to proceed with Davis’ execution.

As minutes ticked toward 1 a.m. ET (midnight CT) — when Davis’ execution warrant was to expire — the US high court issued a statement: “The application to vacate the stay of execution of sentence of death entered by the Arkansas Supreme Court on April 17, 2017, presented to Justice (Samuel) Alito and by him referred to the Court is denied.”

The execution would have been the first in Arkansas since 2005.

Davis was among eight Arkansas inmates facing execution in 11 days in a packed schedule set by the state. The number of executions in such a short amount of time had been described as “unprecedented” by a group that monitors US executions, and it unleashed a flurry of legal actions.

Arkansas had set the schedule because its supply of a lethal injection drug, midazolam, expires on May 1.

Rutledge said the court’s decision is “heartbreaking that the family of Jane Daniel has once again seen justice delayed,” referring to the victim in Davis’ case.

He had been sentenced to death for capital murder.

“Davis was convicted of his crimes in 1992, and my office took every action it could today to see that justice was carried out. Ultimately, the US Supreme Court has the final say and has decided not to lift the stay at this time,” she said in a statement.

State says it wants justice for victims’ families

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson can set a new execution date for him, but it can’t happen for another 30 days, so Davis wouldn’t be executed before the state’s drug supply expires at the end of April.

“While this has been an exhausting day for all involved, tomorrow we will continue to fight back on last-minute appeals and efforts to block justice for the victims’ families,” he said in a statement.

The last-minute Supreme Court decision came after a day of frenzied legal action over Davis and the other Arkansas inmates.

The state’s effort to carry out the executions hit a legal setback Monday as the Arkansas Supreme Court put two executions on hold and the US Supreme Court refused to intervene in its favor.
• Execution of two inmates are temporarily on hold.

The high court stayed the executions of Davis and Ward. The inmates’ counsel requested stays of execution until a US Supreme Court ruling on an upcoming case concerning inmate access to independent mental health experts. The justices are set to hold oral arguments next week.

In a statement, Scott Braden, the attorney for both Davis and Ward, said his clients were “denied access to independent mental health experts, even though they clearly demonstrated that mental health issues would be significant factors at their trials.

“Mr. Ward has severe and life-long schizophrenia, breaks with reality, and delusions, such as seeing demon dogs at the foot of his bed since childhood. Mr. Davis has organic brain damage, intellectual disability, a history of head injuries, fetal alcohol syndrome, and other severe mental health conditions.”

But Arkansas had two other legal victories that could allow the remaining executions to proceed:
• Previous decision to halt all eight executions is overturned.

The 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a Saturday ruling by a federal judge that temporarily halted all eight executions.

The lower court had ruled the prisoners will likely succeed in demonstrating the state’s proposed method of lethal injection is unconstitutional. But the appeals court said the use of the method of execution, which includes midazolam, did not create undue severe pain.
• Court rules vecuronium bromide can be used in executions.

Late Monday, the Arkansas Supreme Court also overturned a temporary restraining order by a state judge that prevented Arkansas from using vecuronium bromide it had purchased from distributor McKesson Medical-Surgical in executions. The company had argued the medication was not meant to be used in capital punishment.

Two other Arkansas inmates — Ledell Lee and Stacey Johnson — are scheduled to die Thursday.

CNN’s Jamiel Lynch, Keith Allen and Jaide Timm-Garcia contributed to this report.</s>The U.S. Supreme Court spared the life of an Arkansas inmate minutes before his death warrant was set to expire Monday, scuttling efforts to resume capital punishment after nearly 12 years in a state with an aggressive plan to carry out four double executions before its supply of a lethal injection drug expires.

The court’s decision was the second time Don Davis had been granted a reprieve shortly before execution — he was within hours of death in 2010. It 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.

Davis had been served a last meal of fried chicken, rolls, beans, mashed potatoes and strawberry cake hours earlier, and witnesses were being moved toward the execution chamber when the Supreme Court ruled. The state was rushing to win approval to execute Davis before his death warrant expired at midnight.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who had set the schedule of multiple executions, said the state would continue to push for the other lethal injections to be carried out. Two inmates are set to be put to death on Thursday.

“While this has been an exhausting day for all involved, tomorrow we will continue to fight back on last minute appeals and efforts to block justice for the victims’ families,” Hutchinson said in a statement.

Davis was sentenced to death for the 1990 death of Jane Daniel in Rogers, Arkansas. The woman was killed in her home after Davis broke in and shot her with a .44-calibre revolver he found there.

“It is heartbreaking that the family of Jane Daniel has once again seen justice delayed,” Attorney General Leslie Rutledge said in a statement. “Davis was convicted of his crimes in 1992.”

The high court’s order offered no explanation, but none of the justices voted in favour of lifting the stay. Monday marked the first day that the U.S. Supreme Court was in session with new Justice Neil Gorsuch on the bench.

The legal fighting had centred on a series of planned lethal injections that, if carried out, would mark the most inmates put to death by a state in such a short period since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976. The state scheduled the executions to take place before its supply of midazolam, a lethal injection drug, expires at the end of April. State and federal court rulings have stayed executions for two other inmates, and the state has yet to appeal those decisions.

Davis and Bruce Ward were originally set to be executed Monday night and had been granted stays by the state Supreme Court earlier that day. The state appealed the stay for Davis but decided not to challenge the stay for Ward. Attorneys had asked for the stay while the U.S. Supreme Court takes up a separate case concerning inmates’ access to independent mental health experts.

“The Arkansas Supreme Court recognized that executing either man, before the Court answers this question…would be profoundly arbitrary and unjust,” Scott Braden, an assistant federal public defender for the inmates, said earlier Monday

The U.S. Supreme Court ruling came hours after the state had cleared two of the main obstacles to resuming executions. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a federal judge’s ruling blocking the executions over the use of midazolam, a sedative used in flawed executions in other states. The state Supreme Court also lifted a lower court ruling preventing the state from using another lethal injection drug that a supplier said was sold to be used for medical purposes, not executions.

Davis’ execution would have come two years after Arkansas enacted a measure making secret the source of its lethal injection drugs, a move officials said was necessary to find new supplies. Despite the secrecy measure, prison officials have said it will be very difficult to find a supplier willing to sell Arkansas midazolam after its current stock expires.</s>Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson is a low-key former prosecutor known for delving into policy issues, but he's putting himself and his state at the center of the national debate over the death penalty.

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson is a low-key former prosecutor known for delving into policy issues, but he's putting himself and his state at the center of the national debate over the death penalty.

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson says he's hopeful the U.S. Supreme Court will allow the executions of two inmates to proceed, saying the victims' families have waited too long for justice.

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson says he's hopeful the U.S. Supreme Court will allow the executions of two inmates to proceed, saying the victims' families have waited too long for justice.

(Arkansas Department of Correction, via AP, File). FILE - This 2013 file photo provided by the Arkansas Department of Correction shows Don William Davis, who has been scheduled for execution Monday, April 17, 2017.

(AP Photo/Kelly P. Kissel). Protesters gather outside the state Capitol building on Friday, April 14, 2017, in Little Rock, Ark., to voice their opposition to Arkansas' seven upcoming executions.

(Stephen B. Thornton/The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette via AP). People gather at a rally opposing the state's upcoming executions, on the front steps of Arkansas' Capitol, Friday, April 14, 2017, in Little Rock, Ark.

(Sherry Simon via AP). This photo provided by Sherry Simon shows Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen taking part of an anti-death penalty demonstration outside the Governor's Mansion Friday, April 14, 2017 in Little Rock, Ark.

(AP Photo/Kelly P. Kissel). Protesters gather outside the state Capitol building on Friday, April 14, 2017, in Little Rock, Ark., to voice their opposition to Arkansas' seven upcoming executions.

VARNER, Ark. (AP) - The U.S. Supreme Court spared the life of an Arkansas inmate minutes before his death warrant was set to expire Monday, scuttling efforts to resume capital punishment after nearly 12 years in a state with an aggressive plan to carry out four double executions before its supply of a lethal injection drug expires.

The court's decision was the second time Don Davis had been granted a reprieve shortly before execution - he was within hours of death in 2010. It 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.

Davis had been served a last meal of fried chicken, rolls, beans, mashed potatoes and strawberry cake hours earlier, and witnesses were being moved toward the execution chamber when the Supreme Court ruled. The state was rushing to win approval to execute Davis before his death warrant expired at midnight.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who had set the schedule of multiple executions, said the state would continue to push for the other lethal injections to be carried out. Two inmates are set to be put to death on Thursday.

"While this has been an exhausting day for all involved, tomorrow we will continue to fight back on last minute appeals and efforts to block justice for the victims' families," Hutchinson said in a statement.

Davis was sentenced to death for the 1990 death of Jane Daniel in Rogers, Arkansas. The woman was killed in her home after Davis broke in and shot her with a .44-caliber revolver he found there.

"It is heartbreaking that the family of Jane Daniel has once again seen justice delayed," Attorney General Leslie Rutledge said in a statement. "Davis was convicted of his crimes in 1992."

The high court's order offered no explanation, but none of the justices voted in favor of lifting the stay. Monday marked the first day that the U.S. Supreme Court was in session with new Justice Neil Gorsuch on the bench.

The legal fighting had centered on a series of planned lethal injections that, if carried out, would mark the most inmates put to death by a state in such a short period since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976. The state scheduled the executions to take place before its supply of midazolam, a lethal injection drug, expires at the end of April. State and federal court rulings have stayed executions for two other inmates, and the state has yet to appeal those decisions.

Davis and Bruce Ward were originally set to be executed Monday night and had been granted stays by the state Supreme Court earlier that day. The state appealed the stay for Davis but decided not to challenge the stay for Ward. Attorneys had asked for the stay while the U.S. Supreme Court takes up a separate case concerning inmates' access to independent mental health experts.

"The Arkansas Supreme Court recognized that executing either man, before the Court answers this question...would be profoundly arbitrary and unjust," Scott Braden, an assistant federal public defender for the inmates, said earlier Monday

The U.S. Supreme Court ruling came hours after the state had cleared two of the main obstacles to resuming executions. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a federal judge's ruling blocking the executions over the use of midazolam, a sedative used in flawed executions in other states. The state Supreme Court also lifted a lower court ruling preventing the state from using another lethal injection drug that a supplier said was sold to be used for medical purposes, not executions.

Davis' execution would have come two years after Arkansas enacted a measure making secret the source of its lethal injection drugs, a move officials said was necessary to find new supplies. Despite the secrecy measure, prison officials have said it will be very difficult to find a supplier willing to sell Arkansas midazolam after its current stock expires.

DeMillo reported from Little Rock. Associated Press writers Jill Bleed in Little Rock and Kelly P. Kissel in Varner contributed to this report.

Follow Sean Murphy on Twitter at www.twitter.com/apseanmurphy and Andrew DeMillo at www.twitter.com/ademillo .

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>Arkansas was set to execute eight inmates in 10 days.

However, the executions of Bruce Ward and Don Davis that were set to start on Monday, April 17 were stayed by the Arkansas Supreme Court. Late Monday night, the United States Supreme Court affirmed the stays.

Stacey Johnson's and Ledell Lee's executions are set for Thursday, April 20. Jack Jones and Marcell Williams are scheduled to be executed on Monday, April 24, and the final execution--that of Kenneth Williams--will be on Thursday, April 27. A federal judge recently stayed the execution of Jason McGehee, who was set to die before Williams on April 27.

The Arkansas Department of Correction has not executed a death row inmate since 2005, and no state has ever successfully executed two inmates in one day with the sedative drug Arkansas plans to use. Midazolam, the drug in question, also expires at the end of the month, which exacerbates the already tight execution schedule.

Here is THV11's comprehensive coverage of the executions.

Don Davis not executed after U.S. Supreme Court upholds stay of execution

The State of Arkansas has not executed Don Davis, who was scheduled to be the first of seven inmates executed over a 10-day period.

The United States Supreme Court denied an application by Attorney General Leslie Rutledge to vacate the stay of his execution. Even up to the dismissal of Davis' execution, crews at the prison prepared as if the execution would take place. Davis was even given what was supposed to be his last meal.

Davis was convicted of murdering 62-year-old Jane Daniel in her home in Rogers in 1990.

Damien Echols, along with actor Johnny Depp and his closest friends, attended the rally as part of the fight against the executions. As he arrived to the State Capitol, Echols admitted to our cameraman that he felt that his heart was going to beat out of his chest.

Surrounded by friends and family, Echols faced great fear and anxiety as he stood at the podium addressing the crowd.

At first, Echols said he was hesitant to attend the rally, but soon changed his mind when he realized if not for the Alford plea he might have been one of the eight men set to be executed in a 10-day span.

Just one day after the Arkansas Supreme Court threw out a temporary restraining order, McKesson Medical-Surgical Incorporated have filed a new lawsuit asking for the State of Arkansas to return its supply of one of the drugs used in the executions.

Originally, Judge Wendell Griffen issued a temporary restraining order against the state until it returned 10 vials of 20mg vecuronium bromide to McKesson. But the judge was taken off the case by the state's Supreme Court and the temporary restraining order was thrown out.

In this new lawsuit, McKesson claimed that the manufacturer of the drug prohibits the company from distributing or selling vecuronium for use in capital punishments

What's changed since the 2005 execution of Eric Nance?

“What is a delay?” Those were the words of Eric Nance as he sat awaiting his death at 8 o’clock on a Monday night.

He had eaten his final meal a few hours earlier; a bacon cheeseburger, French fries, ice cream and a Coke. He had been inquiring about his funeral arrangements and what would happen to his belongings. He asked what or who he should look at as the lethal injection took place. Nance had no final parting words for the records and no parting words for the family of Julie Heath.

Heath was the 18-year-old Malvern cheerleader Eric Nance was convicted of murdering back in 1993. He had stabbed her in the throat with a box cutter after seeing her standing by her broken-down car along U.S. 270.

The Innocence Project has asked an Arkansas circuit court to grant new DNA testing to death row inmate Stacey Johnson. The inmate is one of seven men set to be executed in a 10-day span starting on April 17.

In a press release, the group said newer DNA testing has "never been performed" in Johnson's case and could potentially prove he is innocent of the crime he's been charged with.

Johnson was convicted of the murder of Carol Heath in April of 1993. She was found only wearing a t-shirt. The evidence shows she was stabbed in the throat and raped. Johnson has maintained his innocence throughout his entire time in prison.

The ACLU has filed a stay for Ledell Lee's upcoming execution as well as filing a motion for post-conviction DNA testing in Ledell Lee's case Monday.

The group cited two reasons why Lee's execution should be stayed. The ACLU said that DNA testing at the time of his conviction wasn't "sophisticated enough" to test fragmented samples.

The second reason, the ACLU said, is that Lee has an intellectual disability that stems from fetal alcohol syndrome.

With the scheduled executions dominating much of the talk in Arkansas, one Conway woman reached out to us and asked us, "Does the death penalty deter crime?" We brought her closer to the answer by introducing her to a criminologist to verify whether capital punishment does or does not decrease violent crime.

Jenny Wallace met us at UA Little Rock where we would begin to help her understand if using capital punishment actually does deter crime.

"I think I believed in the death penalty because everyone around me had that same belief so I kind of just wore those beliefs," Wallace said.

On Friday, April 14, the Arkansas Supreme Court granted an emergency stay for Bruce Ward, one of the 7 death row inmates set to be executed starting on Monday, April 17. He would've been one of the first two men executed under the state's plan.

Ward's attorneys argue that since he's diagnosed as a schizophrenic he has no "rational understanding" of his upcoming execution.

Ward has been on death row since 1990 for the strangulation death of 18-year-old Rebecca Lynn Doss.

In a private conference with local press, Governor Asa Hutchinson announced he is confident in the state's execution process.

He said everything will be moving forward as planned. Hutchinson said that overall, Arkansans support the death penalty and it's time to provide closure for the victim’s families after decades of legal work.

The governor said he has done his homework and asked the Department of Correction staff many questions about carrying out the executions. He feels the personnel that will be involved in the executions are well prepared, experienced and trained.

Arkansas has never used sedative midazolam

At the heart of the federal court challenge to Arkansas’s death penalty protocol is a drug called “midazolam.”

It’s the latest battleground in the 50-year debate over capital punishment in the United States. With Arkansas planning to execute seven inmates before its supply of the sedative runs out at the end of April, the issue is moving the state to the international stage.

But midazolam has never been used in Arkansas in executions, and no state has ever successfully executed two inmates in one day using the sedative.

Verify: What's the true cost of the death penalty?

Whether you’re for or against the death penalty, there is a heavy cost associated with the care of death row inmates. We wanted to verify the truth of it all by looking at the cost of execution versus incarceration.

"If we execute these people there may be some short term cost savings for those people, but when you look at the process as a whole, those savings are a lot less," said Robert Lytle, a Criminal Justice Assistant Professor at UA Little Rock.

After a trial, there are often multiple appeals, new trials, and standard legal proceedings in death penalty cases. The executions scheduled now are coming about 20 years after sentencing.

As the executions loomed near on Monday, the battle raged on between the State of Arkansas and attorneys for several death row inmates inside courtrooms across the country.

The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned Judge Kristine Baker's ruling Monday evening. Baker's ruling halted the executions over concerns about midazolam, one of the drugs used in the three-drug cocktail.

But it was the Arkansas Supreme Court that made two big decisions in the execution fight. The court managed to halt the executions of both Don Davis and Ward. Those two men were set to be executed Monday. Arkansas's high court also threw out a temporary restraining order which effectively blocked the use of one drug, vecuronium bromide. Attorney General Leslie Rutledge decided to only challenge the block of Davis' executions.

James Phillips’ wife, 34 year-old Mary Phillips, was raped and murdered and his daughter was almost beat to death by Jack Jones, one of the seven death row inmates set to be executed.

Phillips will be on the front row of Jones' execution April 24 as a witness.

“I don't think it will bother me a bit," he said. "I've been waiting for justice for nearly 22 years and that's all I'm after.”

While people around the world focus on the upcoming executions in Arkansas, some people are watching even more closely. One Arkansas woman is paying attention, to see she could find any additional comfort for her own loss.

“I just hope that this brings peace and comfort to the families,” said Bethany Ault-Pyle. “I really do. I think that, I know I would feel like it would, for me, if I could get that sort of justice for Briana.”

Ault-Pyle did not get what she felt was necessary after the murder of her daughter, Briana Ault, in 2010.

Here's why it takes so long to execute a death row inmate

According to the Bureau of Justice and Death Penalty Information Center, the average time from sentencing to execution for was just around 16 years. If no appeals are raised, that process can happen as soon as six months, but that rarely happens.

The wait to be executed puts stress not only on the inmates, but leaves grieving families in agony during the entire process.

Sister of murdered man wants funds to help victims' families

One woman whose brother was murdered in 1968 is against the death penalty, partly because she wants funds put towards helping victims’ families instead of sentencing the accused to death. In a special report, we told you the Arkansas Public Defender Commission can spend an estimate of $75,000 - $100,000 more in cases where the death penalty is sought. Judith Elane thinks that money can be better spent.

"The death penalty has never made any sense to me. I recall as a young person encountering, why do we kill people who kill people to teach killing people is wrong?” said Elane.

While an advocate to abolish the death penalty, Elane knows the pain of losing a brother to murder.

A federal judge has blocked the execution of one of the eight inmates Arkansas was planning to put to death this month.

"We will respond to any and all challenges that might occur between now and the executions as the prisoners continue to use all available means to delay their lawful sentence,” said Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge.

All eyes on Arkansas as executions people draw near

Only a few hundred people live in the town of Grady, but the upcoming executions are drawing the attention of millions.

Deborah Robinson has spent a long time with this story. As a freelance journalist who works in both Little Rock and Las Vegas, she has spent most of the last two years writing a book about the eight inmates.

Talk about the pending executions has made its way into churches and religious settings. Many preachers, rabbis and bishops have been vocal about their stance.

Rabbi Barry Block of Congregation B'Nai Israel said he signed a multi-faith clergy letter opposing the upcoming executions.

I’m afraid that Arkansas would be blood thirsty if it allowed seven or eight executions to go forward,” said Block.

One week before executions are scheduled to begin, a new trial began April 10, which could be the last, best hope for the seven men who are scheduled to die later this month.

Inside the federal courthouse in downtown Little Rock, lawyers for the seven condemned inmates argued that midazolam, the first drug in the series of the three-drug cocktail the state plans to use, violates the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Doctor Joel Zivot, an anesthesiologist from Emory University in Atlanta, testified that midazolam won't prevent pain, but will prevent the memory of pain.

Victim says inmate has found God, shouldn't be executed

Marcell Williams is on death row for killing 22 year old Stacy Errickson in 1994. He was found guilty of abducting her from a gas station, raping, and suffocating the young mother of two. Her body was found in a shallow grave weeks later.

“This man has turned his life around, and he’s found God," said Dina Windle, who claims she was abducted, raped, and tied up by Marcel Williams 22 years ago. She managed to escape and is now asking the parole board to give Williams another chance at life.

It is almost impossible to imagine what the men and women who are tasked with carrying out executions go through, particularly when confronted with one that does not go as planned.

Two dozen former corrections officials and administrators recently sent a letter to Hutchinson asking him to reconsider the schedule, out of concern for the “extraordinary and unnecessary stress and trauma” to the members of the execution team. Managing seven or eight rapid executions will be a brutalizing experience, even if there are no surprises.

Hall witnessed the execution of Kristina Riggs in 2000, he told us that 17 years later it still haunts him. We spoke with him on the phone today, but he declined an on-camera interview, saying the conversation would just be too hard. He signed up because he felt it was his duty as Riggs Lawyer but he said he doesn't know why anyone would want to volunteer.

He still remembers the last moments before Riggs death: she sang gospel hymns and prayed. He said when the drugs hit her system her whole body turned gray, an image he said he'll never forget.

Critics of capital punishment hope Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson hears their message to stop the scheduled executions of the “Arkansas Eight.” If he is at home, he might.

Members of the Arkansas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty are staging a daily rally outside the Governor’s Mansion. They held signs, marched up and down the block, and chanted for mercy Wednesday afternoon, for Jason McGehee, and the rest of the Arkansas 8. McGehee became the first of the death row inmates scheduled for execution later this month to earn a recommendation of clemency from the Arkansas Parole Board.</s>By ANDREW DeMILLO and SEAN MURPHY, Associated Press

VARNER, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas officials vowed to carry out a double execution later this week after the U.S. Supreme Court delivered a setback to the state’s plan to resume capital punishment with eight executions in two weeks.

Just minutes before Don Davis was set to die Monday, the court issued a ruling sparing his life.

The decision was the second time Davis has been granted a reprieve shortly before execution — he came within hours of death in 2010. It capped a chaotic day of legal wrangling in state and federal courts Monday as Arkansas tried to clear obstacles to carrying out its first executions since 2005.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson had set an aggressive schedule of eight executions by the end of April, when the state’s supply of the key lethal injection drug midazolam expires. If the state had been able to move ahead with its 11-day execution plan, it would have been the most inmates put to death by any state in such a short period since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976.

The executions of Davis and Bruce Ward were supposed to be the first two, but Ward received a stay from the Arkansas Supreme Court on Monday and the state did not appeal the decision. The state did challenge a stay granted to Davis; the last-minute U.S. Supreme Court ruling ensured that he would not enter the death chamber Monday.

Attorneys had requested the stay while the U.S. Supreme Court takes up a separate case concerning inmates’ access to independent mental health experts.

“The Arkansas Supreme Court recognized that executing either man, before the Court answers this question … would be profoundly arbitrary and unjust,” Scott Braden, an assistant federal public defender for the inmates, said Monday.

Davis had already been served a last meal of fried chicken, rolls, beans, mashed potatoes and strawberry cake, and witnesses were being moved toward the execution chamber when the Supreme Court ruled just minutes before his death warrant expired at midnight.

Davis was sentenced to death for the 1990 death of Jane Daniel in Rogers, Arkansas. The woman was killed in her home after Davis broke in and shot her with a .44-caliber revolver he found there.

 Despite the setbacks, Attorney General Leslie Rutledge said Arkansas would press ahead with other planned executions, including two set for Thursday — Ledell Lee and Stacey Johnson.

“There are five scheduled executions remaining with nothing preventing them from occurring, but I will continue to respond to any and all legal challenges brought by the prisoners,” Rutledge said.

Lawyers for the inmates were not immediately available after the U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

Earlier in the day, the state had cleared two of the main obstacles to resuming executions. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a federal judge’s ruling blocking the executions over the use of midazolam, a sedative used in flawed executions in other states. The state Supreme Court also lifted a lower court ruling preventing the state from using another lethal injection drug that a supplier said was sold to be used for medical purposes, not executions.

The high court’s order sparing Davis offered no explanation, but none of the justices voted in favor of lifting the stay. Monday marked the first day that the U.S. Supreme Court was in session with new Justice Neil Gorsuch on the bench.

Arkansas enacted a law two years ago keeping secret the source of its lethal injection drugs, a move officials said was necessary to find new supplies. Despite the secrecy measure, prison officials have said it will be very difficult to find a supplier willing to sell Arkansas midazolam after its current stock expires.

___

 DeMillo reported from Little Rock. Associated Press writers Jill Bleed in Little Rock and Kelly P. Kissel in Varner contributed to this report.

 ___

 Follow Sean Murphy on Twitter at www.twitter.com/apseanmurphy and Andrew DeMillo at www.twitter.com/ademillo .</s>LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The Arkansas Supreme Court has halted the executions of two men originally scheduled to be put to death Monday night, putting another legal roadblock in place in Arkansas’ plan to conduct eight executions before the end of April.

Justices granted the stays Monday afternoon for Don Davis and Bruce Ward. The inmates wanted stays of execution while the U.S. Supreme Court takes up a case concerning access to independent mental health experts by defendants. The U.S. high court is set to hold oral arguments in that case April 24.

Related: Arkansas Judge Barred from Ruling on Executions After Showing Up at Protest

The inmates’ attorneys say they were denied access to independent mental health experts. They’ve argued that Ward has a lifelong history of severe mental illness and that Davis has an IQ in the range of intellectual disability.

Related: Arkansas Executions: First Two Men Scheduled to Die Push for Delay

Arkansas’ supply of one key execution drug expires April 30. A federal judge has also stayed the executions on different grounds, and the state has appealed that ruling.</s>LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - The Latest on Arkansas' plan to execute several inmates before the end of April (all times local):

The Arkansas Supreme Court has halted one of two executions set for Thursday, saying the condemned inmate should have a chance to prove his innocence with more DNA testing.

Stacey Johnson claims that advanced DNA techniques could show that he didn't kill Carol Heath, a 25-year-old mother of two, in 1993 at her southwest Arkansas apartment.

In a 4-3 ruling late Wednesday afternoon, the state's highest court issued a stay for Johnson and ordered a new hearing in lower court for Johnson to make his claims.

Johnson was set for execution Thursday night along with inmate Ledell Lee, who is also seeking a stay in a separate case.

A group of Arkansas death-row inmates has filed another emergency stay request with the U.S. Supreme Court, this time challenging the state's initial plan to execute eight inmates over 11 days before Arkansas' supply of an execution drug expires.

The inmates claim in their request Wednesday that such a compressed schedule "is contrary to the evolving standards of decency."

The legal challenge is one of several filed by the inmates. They include Ledell Lee and Stacey Johnson, who are set for execution Thursday night.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson scheduled the eight executions to take place before the state's supply of midazolam expires April 30. Three of those inmates have since received stays.

A deputy director of the Arkansas prison system says he deliberately ordered an execution drug in a way so there wouldn't be a paper trail.

Rory Griffin testified Wednesday in a lawsuit filed by medical supply company McKesson Corp., which is asking a judge to not allow Arkansas to use its drug in executions.

Griffin said he used phone calls and text messages last year to order one of Arkansas' three execution drugs. He said he didn't keep records of the texts, but a McKesson representative did.

Tim Jenkins of McKesson says Griffin never told him the drug would be used for executions. Griffin said he did tell Jenkins. In text messages from Jenkins' phone, which came up at a court hearing Wednesday, there is no mention that the drug would be used in executions.

The Arkansas attorney general's office is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reject execution stays for a group of death row inmates, including five who are set for lethal injection over the next two weeks.

The state described the inmates' challenge as a last-minute delay that would "manipulate the judicial process."

Two inmates are scheduled for execution Thursday night with three more executions planned for next week.

The state's response detailed the killings that sent the men to death row and argued that justice has been denied to the victims' loved ones. The filing says: "As is oft said, justice delayed is justice denied."

A group of Arkansas inmates is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to block upcoming executions in the state, citing concerns with one of the lethal injection drugs.

The request was filed Wednesday by the eight inmates for whom Gov. Asa Hutchinson scheduled execution dates this month. A ninth death-row inmate who does not have a scheduled execution date also signed on to the request.

Last week, a federal judge in Little Rock blocked the executions, citing concerns with the sedative midazolam that has been used in problematic executions in other states. But the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that order Monday, and the inmates appealed that decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Two executions are set for Thursday, followed by another double execution Monday and a single execution April 27. A double execution planned for earlier this week was halted by the state Supreme Court. A federal judge this month halted the last of the executions.

An inmate set to die Thursday night is asking the Arkansas Supreme Court to block his execution so he can pursue more DNA tests in hopes of proving his innocence.

A judge in Pulaski County on Tuesday rejected the request for DNA testing from inmate Ledell Lee. Attorneys for the inmate filed a request Wednesday for a stay with the state's highest court.

Arkansas plans to execute Lee and another inmate, Stacey Johnson, on Thursday night. There are no current stays blocking those executions, but both inmates have pending court challenges.

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson originally scheduled eight executions to occur before the end of April, when one hard-to-acquire lethal injection drug expires. But courts have blocked three of those executions from going forward.

Lawyers for Arkansas inmates condemned to die Thursday in a planned double execution are claiming they are innocent and one of them says advanced DNA techniques could show he didn't kill a woman in 1993.

Their strategy to win stays is in marked contrast to the first two inmates who faced the death chamber and were spared Monday by arguing they should not be put to death because of mental health issues.

Arkansas officials are vowing to press ahead despite the setback to plans to resume capital punishment after a 12-year hiatus. The state originally wanted to put to death eight men in 11 days but that is down to five after the two won stays Monday and a third was earlier put on hold by a federal judge.</s>LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The Latest on Arkansas’ plan to execute several inmates before the end of April (all times local):

A group of Arkansas inmates is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to block upcoming executions in the state, citing concerns with one of the lethal injection drugs.

The request was filed Wednesday by the eight inmates for whom Gov. Asa Hutchinson scheduled execution dates this month. A ninth death-row inmate who does not have a scheduled execution date also signed on to the request.

Last week, a federal judge in Little Rock blocked the executions, citing concerns with the sedative midazolam that has been used in problematic executions in other states. But the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that order Monday, and the inmates appealed that decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Two executions are set for Thursday, followed by another double execution Monday and a single execution April 27. A double execution planned for earlier this week was halted by the state Supreme Court. A federal judge this month halted the last of the executions.

An inmate set to die Thursday night is asking the Arkansas Supreme Court to block his execution so he can pursue more DNA tests in hopes of proving his innocence.

A judge in Pulaski County on Tuesday rejected the request for DNA testing from inmate Ledell Lee. Attorneys for the inmate filed a request Wednesday for a stay with the state’s highest court.

Arkansas plans to execute Lee and another inmate, Stacey Johnson, on Thursday night. There are no current stays blocking those executions, but both inmates have pending court challenges.

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson originally scheduled eight executions to occur before the end of April, when one hard-to-acquire lethal injection drug expires. But courts have blocked three of those executions from going forward.

Lawyers for Arkansas inmates condemned to die Thursday in a planned double execution are claiming they are innocent and one of them says advanced DNA techniques could show he didn’t kill a woman in 1993.

Their strategy to win stays is in marked contrast to the first two inmates who faced the death chamber and were spared Monday by arguing they should not be put to death because of mental health issues.

Arkansas officials are vowing to press ahead despite the setback to plans to resume capital punishment after a 12-year hiatus. The state originally wanted to put to death eight men in 11 days but that is down to five after the two won stays Monday and a third was earlier put on hold by a federal judge.
The Supreme Court of the United States refuses to vacate a stay of execution issued by the Arkansas Supreme Court. Arkansas's highest court has also put on hold the execution of another inmate, Bruce Ward. The state had planned to execute eight inmates in eleven days. That schedule, as well as the use of the drug midazolam, sparked a broad range of legal challenges and humanitarian concerns about the executions. Today's planned execution of Don W. Davis would have been the state's first since 2005.