Alabama Execution Delayed

A federal appeals court has delayed the execution of an Alabama inmate, saying there should be more time to review his claim that he is no longer competent because of strokes and dementia.

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued the stay Thursday morning, about seven hours ahead of when Vernon Madison was scheduled to die by lethal injection.

Madison was convicted in the 1985 killing Mobile police Officer Julius Schulte. Schulte had responded to a domestic call involving Madison. Prosecutors said Madison crept up and shot Schulte in the back of the head as he sat in his police car.

Madison’s attorneys had argued that he no longer had a rational understanding of his impending execution. The court said it will hold oral arguments on Madison’s competency in June.