NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Latest on the scheduled execution by electric chair of Tennessee inmate Edmund Zagorski (all times local):
5:30 p.m.
The attorney for Tennessee inmate Edmund Zagorski has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take his case and has sought a stay of his execution, currently scheduled for Thursday.
Zagorski's attorney submitted the request for a stay on Tuesday, one day after announcing that he had chosen to die by electrocution rather than lethal injection because he believes it will be quicker and less painful.
The lawyer asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take the case and rule the lethal injection drug the state uses unconstitutional under the 8th Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
Zagorski was sentenced in 1984 for the slayings of two men during a drug deal.
The last time Tennessee put someone to death by electric chair was 2007.
11:30 a.m.
Tennessee inmate Edmund Zagorski has been placed on death watch in anticipation of his Thursday execution by electric chair.
According to the Tennessee Department of Correction, inmates on death watch are placed in a cell next to the execution chamber where they are under 24-hour surveillance.
All visits are non-contact until the final day before the execution, when the warden will decide whether Zagorski can have a contact visit.
Zagorski's spiritual adviser, the Rev. Joe Ingle, says he will be with Zagorski every day but will not be a witness to his death.
Ingle says, "I'm not going to watch my friend get executed."
Zagorski's attorney announced on Monday that Zagorski has chosen to die by electrocution rather than lethal injection because he believes it will be quicker and less painful.
___
10:00 a.m.
An attorney for Tennessee death row inmate Edmund Zagorski says his choice of death by electrocution over lethal injection is not a ploy to buy time.
Kelley Henry announced Zagorski's decision Monday night. He's scheduled to be executed Thursday.
Henry said some people will see the choice as a stall tactic, but Zagorski cannot legally challenge the use of the electric chair after choosing to die by that method.
Henry said Zagorski's decision is based on evidence that Tennessee's lethal injection method would cause him 10 to 18 minutes of mental and physical anguish. He believes the electric chair will be quicker.
Electrocution is an option in Tennessee for inmates whose offenses came before January 1999.
The last time Tennessee put someone to death by electric chair was 2007.
