By Ap/KWMU
St. Louis, MO – A federal appeals court in St. Louis will hear arguments today (Wednesday) in the case that effectively has halted executions in Missouri for the past year.
The state is appealing a judge's order, which among other things requires that a doctor trained in anesthesia oversee and monitor lethal injections.
The state says lethal injection is a humane way to execute inmates, but lawyers for Michael Taylor disagree.
Taylor was hours from dying last February for a 1989 murder in Kansas City; no executions have been scheduled since.