Judge allows Mississippi execution amid inmates’ lawsuit
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS
Associated Press
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A federal judge says he will not block Mississippi from executing an inmate who is suing the state over its use of three drugs for lethal injections. Thomas Edwin Loden Jr. faces a Dec. 14 execution date, which was recently set by the Mississippi Supreme Court. U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate ruled late Wednesday that he will not postpone Loden’s execution while the lawsuit is pending. Loden is 58. He has been on death row since 2001, when he pleaded guilty to capital murder, rape and four counts of sexual battery against a 16-year-old girl, Leesa Marie Gray.
