JACKSON, Miss.- Executions could begin again in Mississippi early next month.
An appeals court refused to rehear a case that challenged a drug the state hopes to use in the process of lethal injections.
The motion, filed by Ricky Chase, Richard Jordan and Thomas Loden Jr, was denied by the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday. They called for an entire court reconsider after a February ruling by a three-judge appeals panel.
No more appeals can be filed by Jordan and Loden. That means Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood can now ask the State Supreme Court to schedule execution dates.
The decision will be released on July 5. That would end the freeze set on execution by U.S. District Judge Henry T. Wingate. The panel overruled Wingate back in February determining that the questions raised about the drugs used for execution should be discussed in state court.
