Circuit Court judge ruling will halt the seven planned Arkansas executions if not reversed

Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen, Jr. has granted a preliminary injunction that, if not reversed by the Arkansas Supreme Court, would halt the seven executions of death row inmates Arkansas officials have scheduled for April.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson on March 6 set execution dates over an 11-day period starting April 17 and ending April 27.
• April 17: Don Davis, Bruce Ward;
• April 20: Stacey Johnson, Ledelle Lee;
• April 24: Marcel Williams, Jack Jones; and
• April 27: Jason McGehee, Kenneth Williams.

Courts have already granted requests to stay or delay the executions of Jason McGehee and Bruce Ward.

McKesson-Medical Surgical filed a request in Pulaski County Circuit Court arguing that a drug produced by the company may be one of the three drugs used in Arkansas’ lethal injection protocol. The company said its drugs are not to be used for carrying out a death penalty. Griffen granted the the request, suggesting that if the executions are carried out the harm to the company could not be reversed.

“Plaintiff has demonstrated a clear showing based on specific facts found in its Verified Complaint and attached exhibit, as well as in its motion and brief in support and attached exhibits, that it has a likelihood of success on the merits of its claims in the Verified Complaint and that immediate and irreparable injury will be caused to Plaintiff if a temporary restraining order is not granted,” Griffen noted in the brief two-page ruling issued late Friday afternoon.

Judd Deere, spokesman for Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge, said the AG plans to ask the Arkansas Supreme Court to vacate Griffen’s ruling.

“As a public opponent of capital punishment, Judge Griffen should have recused himself from this case. Attorney General Rutledge intends to file an emergency request with the Arkansas Supreme Court to vacate the order as soon as possible,” Deere said in a media statement.

The request by McKesson follows a similar filing late Thursday by two drug companies alleging that state officials may have obtained two of the three lethal injection drugs from “an unauthorized seller.” The director of the state’s corrections department says the drugs were “donated” to the state but she did not disclose the source.

Fresenius Kabi, a Lake Zurich, Ill.-based company that produces drugs and medical devices, and Eatontown, N.J.-based West-Ward filed Thursday an amicus brief in a lawsuit filed on behalf of the inmates. The filing includes images of two redacted product labels the drug makers allege accompany their drugs and are in the state’s possession for use in the injections.