LAS VEGAS (AP) - The Latest on a lawsuit by three drug companies trying to stop Nevada from using their drugs for a twice-postponed execution (all times local):
5:35 p.m.
A Nevada judge says she will need a few days to decide whether three drugmakers’ products can be used in an execution the companies say they don’t want any part of.
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Clark County District Court Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez said after hearings ended Monday that she hopes to issue her ruling by Friday.
That’s the same day the state Supreme Court plans oral arguments on a bid by the state to reschedule the twice-postponed lethal injection of an inmate who says he wants to die.
The companies argue that prison officials deceived them and improperly obtained a sedative, the powerful opioid fentanyl, and a paralyzing drug for the planned execution.
State attorneys argue the drugs were obtained lawfully through a third-party supplier and the companies have no right to try to control how they are used.
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1:05 p.m.
The Nevada Supreme Court is considering whether to put the brakes on oral arguments slated later this week on a bid by the state to resume planning the twice-postponed lethal injection of an inmate who says he wants to die.
The high court called for a written response by Tuesday from state attorneys after pharmaceutical firms said there’s no need to rush.
The companies point to testimony from Nevada’s prisons pharmacy chief last week that the state has stocks of drugs to carry out an execution into next year.
The state attorney general’s office has argued that unless the Supreme Court rules by mid-October whether the execution can proceed, some drugs will expire.
Hearings are continuing Monday in Las Vegas before a state judge considering claims that prison officials improperly obtained drugs for the execution.
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