POSTPONED

Nevada Execution Halted After Drugmaker Sues

The company alleged that prison officials obtained the drug under false pretenses.

Nevada officials were ordered to call off the execution of a convicted murderer on Wednesday night after the manufacturer of one of the lethal injection drugs to be used sued to stop the procedure. Hours before the execution of Scott Dozier, 47, Alvogen, the manufacturer of the sedative midazolam, won an unprecedented ruling from Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez of the Clark County District Court. Gonzalez issued a temporary restraining order to stop the execution after Alvogen argued that Nevada officials had tricked the company into selling them the sedative midazolam by failing to disclose that it would be used for capital punishment and having it shipped to a state office instead of the prison. The Nevada Department of Corrections said late Wednesday that Dozier’s execution has been “postponed” but did not set a new date. Dozier, 47, has been on death row since 2007 for the 2002 murder of a 22-year-old acquaintance. He had urged prison officials to continue with the execution despite concerns over the lethal injection drugs, telling them to “get to it.”