Judge's ruling could delay Arkansas inmate's execution (UALR Public Radio) - Next month's execution of an Arkansas man sentenced to die for killing a farmer in 1992 is in question after a circuit judge ruled that the state's new execution procedures should have been subject to public comment before they were implemented.

Pulaski County Circuit Judge Timothy Fox, in a ruling Thursday, barred the Arkansas Department of Correction from using the procedures in its execution of Frank Williams Jr. Williams faces a Sept. 9 execution.

"The million-dollar question is: What does that do to the September execution date? That is still uncertain," Chief Deputy Attorney General Justin Allen told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. The attorney general's office is representing the Correction Department in the state lawsuit by Williams that led to Fox's findings.

Williams, 42, was convicted of capital murder in the 1992 death of farmer Clyde Spence of Bradley. Williams, who was working on Spence's farm as part of a prison-release program, had been fired earlier that day by Spence for breaking a tractor.

Earlier this month, the Arkansas Board of Parole recommended that Williams be granted clemency. Gov. Mike Beebe has not yet acted on that recommendation.

Williams' lawsuit challenged the legality of the state's new execution procedures, which were implemented in May in response to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

Earlier this month, a federal judge in Arkansas upheld the constitutionality of Arkansas' lethal injection procedure, which was challenged by Williams and death-row inmates Terrick Nooner, Don Davis and Jack Harold Jones. Williams is the only one of the four inmates who has an execution date scheduled.

The federal public defenders office, which represents Williams, has a policy of not commenting on cases.

Fox ruled that the new protocols are subject to the Arkansas Administrative Procedure Act and therefore subject to public scrutiny and input. The Correction Department argues that the execution protocol is exempt from the act.

"If we had to go through the notification process every time we changed something we do ... we would never be able to conduct business," agency spokeswoman Dina Tyler said.

Allen said the state would appeal Fox's decision to the Arkansas Supreme Court.

"We respectfully disagree with the ruling," Allen said. "We think the law is on our side."

Allen said Williams' execution would likely be delayed if the state high court doesn't expedite the case.

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