A federal judge has denied a request to stop the execution of a Texas inmate who had alleged in a lawsuit the drugs he's to be injected with next week were exposed to extreme heat and smoke during a recent fire, making them unsafe. Jedidiah Murphy's lawyers claimed extreme heat and smoke from the August fire at a prison unit made them unsafe. But the Texas attorney general’s office says testing done after the fire shows the drugs “remain potent and sterile.” The judge's order denying the execution stay was issued Friday evening. Murphy is set for execution Tuesday. He's condemned for a fatal October 2000 shooting during a carjacking.
