30 September 2010 :

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ordered U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel of San Jose, California, to reconsider his plan that would have allowed the execution for Albert Greenwood Brown. In a ruling on September 24, Judge Fogel denied a stay of execution for Brown, and said that he lacked the time to inquire whether the state’s new lethal injection protocol contained sufficient safeguards against painful executions. Brown's execution is scheduled for September 30, and would be the first execution in the state since 2006 if it proceeds. The appeals court said that it appeared that the state’s haste to execute Brown was in part because California’s supply of one of the drugs used in its lethal injection protocol, sodium thiopental (Pentothal), has an expiration date of October 1. The state has not been able to secure more of the lethal drug because of a nationwide shortage that has affected other states. The manufacturer, Hospira Inc., has said that new supplies will not be available until at least January 2011. Mr. Brown, 56, black, was convicted in 1982 of raping and strangling a 15-year-old girl in 1980. (see also Aug. 31, 2010)