Full court asked to hear killer’s appeal

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: July 22, 2008

Attorneys for a man scheduled to be executed this week for beating a co-worker to death with a brass lamp asked yesterday that the full 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals consider his challenge to Virginia’s method of lethal injection.

Attorneys for Christopher Scott Emmett, 36, argue that Virginia’s use of lethal injection amounts to cruel and unusual punishment because of the possibility that paralyzing and heart-stopping drugs could be administered before inmates are rendered unconscious by another drug. Emmett’s execution is scheduled for Thursday.

A panel of the court ruled 2-1 this month that Virginia’s methods of administering the three-drug lethal cocktail were “substantially similar” to those in Kentucky, which were upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in April in a similar challenge.

Justice Roger L. Gregory said at the time that he felt there was enough of a difference to warrant further study.

David Clementson, a spokesman for the attorney general’s office, said only that “lethal injection as authorized in the commonwealth is constitutional.”

In 2001, Emmett beat 43-year-old John F. Langley to death with the base of a brass lamp so he could steal his wallet to get money to buy crack cocaine. The two were sharing a motel room in Danville while working as part of an out-of town roofing crew.