Court sets new execution date

MONTGOMERY - The Alabama Supreme Court has set Dec. 6 as the new execution date for Tommy Douglas Arthur.

Arthur was sentenced to die for the 1982 shooting death of Troy Wicker, of Muscle Shoals. He has been on death row for almost 25 years.

Arthur's scheduled execution was one of two set Wednesday by the court. The other is for James Harvey Callahan, of Calhoun County, set for Jan. 31, the Supreme Court said.

Both Arthur and Callahan are in Holman Prison in Atmore.

Gov. Bob Riley on Sept. 27 stayed Arthur's execution, set for that day, pending a review of the state's lethal injection protocol, a review that now has been completed.

Arthur still has federal appellate reviews remaining, including to the U.S. Supreme Court. That court did not issue a public comment about the case after reviewing motions Friday.

Arthur's attorney, Suhana Han, couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday.

Arthur, 65, is challenging the constitutionality of lethal injection as a method of execution, saying it's cruel and unusual punishment.

Alabama uses a series of drugs to first render the inmate unconscious before administering the drug that causes death. The drugs administered are sodium pentothal, Pavulon and potassium chloride.

The new lethal injection protocol requires attendants to try to determine an inmate's consciousness by calling the inmate by name, by pinching an arm and brushing an eyelash.

There are now three pending federal appellate court challenges to lethal injection including the one in Alabama.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed the lethal injection execution planned that day in Mississippi for Earl Wesley Berry for a 1987 murder. The court stayed Berry's execution so it can consider looking at the underlying appeal by his attorneys, who say lethal injection is unconstitutional.

In addition, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week agreed to sit as an entire court and review a request for a stay of execution by Alabama inmate Daniel Lee Seibert.

A three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit on Oct. 24 granted a stay of execution but Alabama Attorney General Troy King asked the entire court to consider rejecting the stay. A court clerk's spokesman said a meeting date hasn't been set.

The U.S. Supreme Court also said it wants to look at a case in Kentucky that challenges that state's lethal injection.

Clay Crenshaw, the head of the attorney general's capital litigation section, said Wednesday he's unsure whether the two issues will affect Arthur's existing appeal. He said the Supreme Court has not indicated if it will issue blanket stays of execution for the lethal injection issue.

Dana Beyerle can be reached at (334) 264-6605.