Alabama set to carry out 1st execution in more than 2 years

(AP) — A man convicted of the 1992 rape and beating death of a woman is scheduled to receive a lethal injection Thursday in what would be Alabama's first execution in more than two years.

While DNA testing was at its infancy at the time, prosecution witness said semen found on the victim's body was consistent with Brooks' DNA.

Six Alabama inmates argue in an ongoing lawsuit that it is an ineffective anesthetic and that they will feel the effects of the subsequent injections of rocuronium bromide and potassium chloride stop their lungs and hearts.

"Brooks should not be the subject of Alabama's experiment to see if it can carry out an execution using this protocol while the very validity of the protocol is at issue in ongoing federal court proceedings," Assistant Federal Defender John Palombi wrote in the filing to the Supreme Court.

Brooks' attorney also asked the Supreme Court to review the case after justices last week ruled Florida's system for sentencing people to death is unconstitutional because it gives too much power to judges to decide capital sentences.