Execution of US woman postponed; problem with drug

JACKSON, Georgia — Corrections officials have postponed the U.S. state of Georgia’s first execution of a woman in 70 years, citing problems with the lone drug that would be used for the lethal injection.

The only drug used in Georgia executions is pentobarbital.

Georgia Department of Corrections spokeswoman Gwendolyn Hogan said late Monday that the drug appeared cloudy so officials called a pharmacist and then out of an “abundance of caution” decided to postpone the execution. They did not give a new date.

The execution was first scheduled for 7 p.m. (0000 GMT) at the prison in Jackson. It was put on hold pending a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on a request for a stay filed by 46-year-old Kelly Renee Gissendaner’s lawyers. The court had still not ruled more than four hours later.