Florida judge upholds use of new mix of execution drugs

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Florida judge upholds use of new mix of execution drugs

By Bill Cotterell TALLAHASSEE (Reuters) - A drug that Florida recently started using to knock out condemned killers in executions does not subject them to unconstitutionally cruel and unusual punishment, a Florida judge ruled on Monday. The challenge to use of midazolam hydrochloride, the first of three drugs used in Florida executions, now goes back to the state Supreme Court. In a sharply divided 5-2 ruling last week, the high court directed Judge Phyllis Rosier of Florida's Eighth Judicial Circuit to hold an evidentiary hearing on the effectiveness of the drug. An attorney for Askari Abdullah Muhammad, previously known as Thomas Knight, won a stay of execution through at least December 27 with the medical challenge.

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