Tenn. expects changes to lethal injection protocol, staffing

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee officials say they anticipate that an independent investigation of the state’s lethal injection methods will result in changes to how those executions are carried out, including how the procedures are staffed. State corrections officials made the statement last week in a federal court filing and a judge on Tuesday agreed to pause litigation challenging the lethal injection protocol while the probe unfolds. Lee initially said the execution was delayed due to an " oversight in preparation.” He later added last week that the drugs to be used in Smith’s execution were tested for potency and sterility, but not endotoxins, as required by the state’s execution protocols. While asking a judge to put the litigation brought by death row inmates on hold for now, attorneys for the state noted the governor has halted executions through this year to allow time for the investigation and for “corrective action to be put in place.” “It is, thus, clearly contemplated that the independent investigation will result in changes to the ways in which TDOC conducts lethal injection procedures, the ways in which those procedures are staffed, and the personnel responsible for implementing those procedures,” the state’s filing says, referring to the Tennessee Department of Correction.