Not long after Jones' execution, U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker issued a stay of execution for inmate Marcel Williams, citing court filings arguing that continuing with his execution would "demonstrate an ongoing constitutional violation cruel, unusual, and inhumane infliction of pain and suffering," because Jones remained partially conscious during his execution.
They also asked Savannah prosecutors to block the execution, although Chatham County district attorney Larry Chisolm said in a statement he was powerless to withdraw an execution order for Davis issued by a state superior court judge.
Dozier had been scheduled to die last July, but hours before his planned execution, a state district court judge halted the proceedings after a drug manufacturer sued Nevada.
Later, when Mr. Francois tried to change his plea to guilty -- a step that would avoid the possibility of execution -- the Dutchess County district attorney, William V. Grady, refused to accept it, saying he wanted to seek the death penalty.
They also asked Savannah prosecutors to block the execution, although Chatham County District Attorney Larry Chisolm said in a statement he was powerless to withdraw an execution order for Davis issued by a state Superior Court judge.
On Friday in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, Mr. Williams's lawyers are scheduled to explain why a state trial judge should stay his execution and why the Philadelphia district attorney should agree that his sentence be commuted to life without parole.
Many of the larger districts have their own execution and enforcement authority, while this in integrated in the smaller districts.
Texas's system also contains some special features, like the power of district attorneys to set execution dates.
A judge is expected to set a new time frame for the execution by next week, said Spencer Lawton Jr., the district attorney in Chatham County, Ga., where the case originated.
Several judges have called the state's execution system dysfunctional, and last year, U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney ruled that the sloth of the state's execution process actually amounted to a constitutional violation.
