Lawyers: Georgia Waffled On Proceeding With Execution Using Cloudy Drug

Georgia officials waffled on whether to proceed with an execution when the lethal injection drug was discovered to have a cloudy appearance, court documents say and one expert said the state's decision to postpone it was the right move.

The execution of Kelly Renee Gissendaner was delayed late Monday night. A day later, officials decided to temporarily halt executions until they could more carefully analyze the pentobarbital, which is supposed to be clear.

Michael Jay is a professor at the University of North Carolina's Eshelman School of Pharmacy. He says Georgia did the right thing by not injecting the cloudy drug.

"If it's a solution that's supposed to be clear and it's not clear, it should never be injected," said Michael Jay, a professor at the University of North Carolina's Eshelman School of Pharmacy.

Gissendaner, who was convicted of murder in the February 1997 slaying of her husband, had originally been set for execution last week on Feb. 25, but it was postponed because of a threat of bad weather.

The cloudy drug bolstered death penalty opponents, who have been vocal in their opposition after three botched executions in other parts of the country.

Tags: Kelly Renee Gissendaner, pentobarbital syringe, lawyers say stopping execution due to cloudy drug was good idea