ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) _ Florida is set to execute its first death row inmate since January.
Jerry Correll is set to be executed Thursday for the fatal stabbings of his young daughter, his ex-wife, her mother and her sister 30 years ago in Orlando.
Correll’s execution had been scheduled for last February, but it was delayed as attorneys litigated whether a sedative used in Florida’s executions was constitutional.
The sedative, midazolam, had been used in executions in Oklahoma and other states where inmates gasped and made noises before dying.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last summer that midazolam was constitutional in a case from Oklahoma.
In Florida, Correll’s attorneys had argued that his history of alcoholism would render the drug ineffective in knocking him out.
But Florida courts dismissed those arguments.