Nashville, Tenn. – The Tennessee Supreme Court today denied motions filed by Stephen Michael West and Billy Ray Irick to postpone their scheduled executions after a trial court ruled the state’s lethal injection procedure to be unconstitutional.
West is scheduled for execution on Nov. 30. Irick’s execution is scheduled for Dec. 7.
The ruling comes after West and Irick jointly challenged the constitutionality of the state’s lethal injection protocol in a lawsuit filed in Davidson County Chancery Court. Following a two-day evidentiary hearing, the trial court ruled the state’s lethal injection procedure to be unconstitutional because it did not provide a safeguard to ensure the prisoner was unconscious before the final two drugs are administered.
On Monday, West and Irick filed motions requesting the Tennessee Supreme Court postpone their executions based on the trial court’s ruling. In the State’s response, filed Wednesday, they argued that a stay of execution should not be granted as it had changed its execution procedure to include a test to confirm that the inmate is unconscious before the administration of the final two drugs.
After considering the motions filed by West and Irick and the State’s response, the Supreme Court filed an order today denying both West’s and Irick’s request to postpone their scheduled executions.