Supreme Court denies Mo. lethal injection case

ST. LOUIS -- The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday turned down the appeal of convicted Kansas City murderer Michael Taylor, whose challenges to Missouri's lethal injection procedures had halted his and other executions in the state.

Taylor was one of 10 death-row inmates who lost their appeals Monday. The ruling came in the wake of the high court's decision last week upholding the constitutionality of lethal injection.

It's unclear what, if any, options Taylor has.

The court's decision last week left the door open to challenging lethal injection procedures in states where problems with administering the drugs are well documented.

Taylor's attorneys declined to comment.

Attorney General Jay Nixon said through a spokesman that the ruling "brings Mr. Taylor's challenge to Missouri's method of execution to a close."

Taylor is part of a separate federal lawsuit filed last summer by condemned prisoners that seeks to stop the Missouri Department of Corrections from using unfit or untrained people for its execution team.

A federal judge in 2006 required Missouri to produce written procedures for executions. Prior to that, a dyslexic surgeon since banned from Missouri executions mixed the lethal drugs and carried out the executions without oversight, in a process that wasn't formalized in writing.

Now that Dr. Alan Doerhoff of Jefferson City is out of the picture, it's unclear whether the state has succeeded in assembling an execution team.

Corrections spokesman Brian Hauswirth refused to say whether Missouri had a team in place, citing safety and security concerns. But he did say, "If and when the Missouri Supreme Court sets a date, we will be ready."

As of Monday, the state was housing 47 condemned prisoners. Last June, Nixon sought execution dates for 10 of them. He sought dates for four more last week.

-- The Associated Press