US justices let Florida stay of execution stand

Posted: 10:11 a.m. Friday, July 29, 2011

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to lift a stay of execution ordered by the Florida Supreme Court.
The federal justices Friday rejected a request by Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to vacate the stay for Manuel Valle.
The 61-year-old convict had been scheduled for execution by lethal injection next Tuesday for fatally shooting a Coral Gables police officer 33 years ago.
The Florida justices, though, stayed the execution and ordered a Miami judge to hold a fact-finding hearing on a change in the state's lethal injection procedure.
That hearing begin Thursday and will continue next week.
It focuses on the safety and effectiveness of a new chemical that Florida plans to use as part of its three-drug lethal injection cocktail.
The new drug replaces one that's no longer made.
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July 29, 2011 10:11 AM EDT