Judge refuses to halt Nebraska’s 1st execution since 1997

— A federal judge on Friday refused to block Nebraska from carrying out the state’s first-ever lethal injection despite a German pharmaceutical company’s lawsuit that claims the state illicitly obtained its drugs. U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf denied the company’s request to temporarily block state prison officials from executing Carey Dean Moore, one of the nation’s longest-serving death row inmates. Attorneys for the drug company, Fresenius Kabi, filed a lawsuit earlier this week arguing that state officials improperly obtained at least one of the company’s drugs. Nebraska state officials have refused to identify the source of their execution drugs, but Fresenius Kabi alleges the state’s supply of potassium chloride is stored in 30 milliliter bottles.