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Oklahoma Death Row Inmates Appeal Injection Ruling

Ben Fenwick/Oklahoma Watch

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A group of Oklahoma death row inmates scheduled to die early next year is appealing the ruling of a federal judge in Oklahoma City who says the state's new lethal injection protocol is constitutional.

Attorneys for the four condemned men filed notice Tuesday they will appeal Judge Stephen Friot's ruling to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver.

Assistant Federal Public Defender Dale Baich says attorneys are reviewing the judge's order to decide which issues they intend to appeal. Baich declined to discuss legal strategy, but it's likely they will ask the appeals court to delay the upcoming executions set to begin Jan. 15.

The inmates say the state's use of the sedative midazolam in a three-drug combination poses a substantial risk of unconstitutional pain and suffering.