Death-row suit targets drugs shift

HARRISBURG - A lawyer for five inmates on Pennsylvania's death row argued before a state court Wednesday that the Corrections Department did not have legal authority to change state execution procedures from a two-drug to a three-drug protocol.

The hearing in Commonwealth Court concerned whether their lawsuit can proceed past preliminary stages. The Corrections Department wants the court to throw out the case, arguing that the inmates lack legal standing.

Amy Zapp, a lawyer with the Attorney General's Office, which is representing the department, said that currently, no inmates face execution.

Gov. Wolf announced a moratorium on the death penalty last month, and the state Supreme Court plans to hear a challenge to that policy by the Philadelphia district attorney.

Philadelphia lawyer David Rudovsky, representing the inmates, said they were seeking an order to prevent anyone from being executed without abiding by the procedures laid out in state law.

Terrance Williams, one of the five inmates, was the condemned man whose reprieve by Wolf prompted the Supreme Court challenge by Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams.