Federal judge to rule on Ohio's lethal-injection process

COLUMBUS (AP) — A federal judge will determine whether Ohio has proper lethal-injection procedures in place now that a trial over those procedures has ended.

For several months, the state has found itself in the position of having a constitutional capital punishment system but unable to carry out executions because of questions about its injection process.

U.S. District Court Judge Gregory Frost said in a court filing today he’ll issue a decision in due course on Ohio’s injection procedures.

Prison officials and injection experts testified during the seven-day trial in Columbus.

Judge Frost has criticized the state for deviations from its policy, including switching the official whose job it is to announce the start and finish times of the lethal injection and failing to properly document that the inmate’s medical chart was reviewed.