Ky. won’t appeal lethal injection ruling, must hold hearings before resuming executions

Ky. won’t appeal ruling that delays executions

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Kentucky won’t appeal a court ruling that found it failed to follow proper administrative procedures when it adopted its lethal injection method.

The state must hold public hearings on the injection procedures before it can resume executions. The state announced decision not to appeal Friday.

The Kentucky Supreme Court ruled last month that the state improperly adopted the method it uses to deliver the lethal three-drug cocktail.

The ruling didn’t challenge the technique that has been upheld in the nation’s highest court and is used by dozens of other states. It only says the state did not follow proper administrative procedures, including public hearings, before putting it in place.

Three death row inmates had challenged how the procedure was adopted.