Indiana Supreme Court rejects challenge to execution combo

INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Supreme Court has ruled prison officials can change execution drugs without going through a public review.

The Indianapolis Star reports the court Tuesday rejected a challenge by death row inmate Roy Ward. The Indiana Court of Appeals ruled last June that the Department of Correction didn’t follow proper procedures in selecting a new three-drug combination in 2014.

However, the Supreme Court in a unanimous nine-page ruling said the state’s new three-drug combination is “not subject to the Administrative Rules and Procedures Act.”

The state had argued Indiana law doesn’t require such a rulemaking process and would unduly delay executions. Indiana has 12 death row inmates but no executions are currently scheduled.

Ward was convicted in the 2001 rape and murder of 15-year-old Stacy Payne in Spencer County.

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Information from: The Indianapolis Star, http://www.indystar.com