Loden v. State

EN BANC ORDER

MICHAEL K. RANDOLPH,

PRESIDING JUSTICE FOR THE COURT

Before the Court, en banc, is Thomas Loden’s Successive Petition for Post-Conviction Relief, the State’s Response, and Loden’s Reply. Restated, Lo-den’s issue was whether the State’s use of midazolam as part of the three-drug, lethal-injection protocol violates Mississippi Code Section 99-19-51 (Supp. 2016) because it is not an “ultra-short acting barbiturate or other similar drug.” However, the Legislature has since amended Section 99-19-51. See 2017 Miss. Laws H.B. 638. The statute now requires an “appropriate anesthetic or…