San Quentin State Prison wants to change slightly the composition of the three-drug death cocktail and the manner in which it is injected in response to a lawsuit brought by a condemned prisoner.

Michael Morales was scheduled to be executed Feb. 21 but the injection was canceled after the prison could not comply with a federal judge's order for changes in the procedure to ensure Morales would not feel too much pain.

That judge, U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel of San Jose, did not say whether he would approve the new method to kill Morales or other prisoners, none of whom are scheduled to be executed.

The Japan Times Weekly: March 11, 2006
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