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Attorney Pleased With Order Blocking Executions

www.arkansasonline.com/photos/2016/mar/17/462171/
Judge D. Price Marshall Jr. halts the execution of 1 of 8 upcoming inmate executions

An attorney for an Arkansas death row inmate whose lethal injection was halted by a judge says there's little for the state to be proud of in the same ruling that allowed several other executions scheduled for this month to move forward.

Assistant federal public defender John Williams said Thursday that attorneys for Jason McGehee were pleased with U.S. District Court Judge D. Price Marshall Jr.'s order blocking McGehee's April 27 execution.

Marshall said at least five of the scheduled executions could go forward even though he found that the state broke some rules and policies. Williams said Marshall was emphatic that the state's clemency process has been "shoddy and arbitrary in many respects."

Prosecutors say McGehee directed the 1996 fatal assault of a 15-year-old who had told police about a theft ring.