Calif state court judge refuses to block execution

SAN RAFAEL, Calif. (AP) — A California state court judge refused a death row inmate’s request today to block his scheduled execution this week.

Albert Greenwood Brown and another condemned inmate had sued the state over its new lethal injection regulations, saying the procedures were improperly adopted.

Corrections officials revised the procedures after a federal judge halted the death penalty in California amid concerns that its method of lethal injection amounted to cruel and unusual punishment.

But Marin County Judge Verna Adams said after a hearing Monday that she would not halt Brown’s execution, set for Wednesday.

A federal judge also refused to block it last week.

Brown’s attorneys said they plan to appeal Adams’ ruling to a state appeals court.