Court refuses to block Alabama execution set for Thursday

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) – A federal appeals court is refusing to block Alabama’s bid to execute an inmate convicted of killing a country preacher with a sword.

The 11th U.S. Circuit of Appeals on Wednesday refused a stay requested by 46-year-old Christopher Lee Price. He’s set to die by lethal injection on Thursday night.

The court says an earlier Supreme Court decision prevents a delay for Price, who is challenging Alabama’s lethal injection methods.

Price could ask the Supreme Court for a delay. He says the state is rushing to execute him ahead of a trial set for next month about lethal injection in Alabama.

Price was convicted of capital murder in the killing of pastor Bill Lynn, who was slain with a sword and knife in rural Fayette County in 1991.

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