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Trial set for death row inmates seeking firing squad option

Posted at 12:09 PM, Oct 16, 2020
and last updated 2020-10-16 13:09:11-04

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A trial date has been set for case seeking to allow the firing squad and other execution methods outside of lethal injection and the electric chair in Tennessee.

U.S. District Judge William Campbell scheduled the trial for April 2022. Nearly two years ago, four death row inmates filed a complaint arguing that the state had several alternative execution methods which would “substantially reduce the constitutionally-unacceptable risk of inflicting unnecessary and serious pain” caused by electrocution.

Three of those inmates have since been executed by the electric chair, an option available in Tennessee for some inmates.