U.S. Supreme Court stays Florida execution

The U.S. Supreme Court issued a stay in the Florida execution of a convicted child-killer, overturning a federal court's decision to let it proceed.

The stay in the execution of Mark Dean Schwab is at least the fourth such postponement since the panel agreed to hear a case questioning whether the mixture of drugs used in lethal injections causes pain and suffering, which possibly could constitute cruel and unusual punishment under the Constitution, CNN reported.

Earlier Thursday, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals lifted a federal judge's order that would have delayed Schwab's execution, saying the judge's stay order was "contrary to the unequivocal law of this circuit."

Schwab, 38, was convicted in 1991 of raping, torturing and killing Junny Rios-Martinez, 11, of Cocoa, Fla.  // Copyright 2007 by United Press International

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