Judge halts execution in Missouri

Associated Press

ST. LOUIS

A federal judge in Missouri on Tuesday granted a stay of execution to white- supremacist serial killer Joseph Paul Franklin just hours before his scheduled death, citing concerns over the state’s new execution method.

U.S. District Court Judge Nanette Laughrey ruled that a lawsuit filed by Franklin and 20 other death-row inmates challenging Missouri’s execution protocol must be resolved before he is put to death.

The state appealed Judge Laughrey’s ruling to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis on Tuesday night, though it wasn’t clear how quickly that court would rule.