Powell v. Thomas, et al., No. 11-12238 (11th Cir. 2011)
Annotate this CaseAppellant, a death row inmate, filed a motion for stay of execution in the Alabama Supreme Court after the Alabama Department of Corrections ("ADOC") announced plans to alter its lethal injection protocol for his execution by replacing the first drug in its lethal injection protocol with another. At issue was whether the ADOC's protocol change would result in violation of appellant's Eighth Amendment right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment. The court held that appellant had not demonstrated a substantial likelihood of success on the merits of his Eighth Amendment claim where the evidence presented did not demonstrate that the ADOC's use of the new drug created substantial risk of harm to him and where appellant was adequately informed of the process that would be used. Accordingly, the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying the motion to stay execution and the court affirmed.
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