Florida Supreme Court tells state it can’t execute death row inmate just yet

The Florida Supreme Court denied the state’s motion to reconsider a stay of execution for Jerry Correll, a death row inmate convicted of killing four people.

Correll, who was supposed to be executed in February, was granted a stay by the court because the U.S. Supreme Court was hearing arguments on the legality of midazolam, one of the drugs used in the lethal injection cocktail. Hours after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the drug’s legality in June, Attorney General Pam Bondi filed a motion to vacate the stay the Florida Supreme Court had imposed on all executions. 

The court also ordered a new hearing in the Orange-Osceola Circuit Court regarding the effects of midazolam on Correll before Aug. 27. 

This article appears in Jul 29 – Aug 4, 2015.