Tommy Lee Waldrip and Eddie Davis Lose Death-Row Appeals

Tommy Lee Waldrip challenged Georgia's execution secrecy law, while Eddie Davis had complaints about his clemency bid process.

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Judges in two states have rejected challenges filed by death row prisoners scheduled for execution Thursday. Tommy Lee Waldrip — condemned for the 1991 murder of a man who was going to testify against his son — argued that a Georgia law that keeps the source of its lethal injection and details about its execution team secret would leave him vulnerable to a cruel and excruciating death. But federal judge William O'Kelley disagreed, writing that even if Waldrip had the information, "he would not be able to use that information to establish a substantial risk of significant pain."

In Florida, the state Supreme Court denied an appeal by Eddie Davis, who brought up last-minute complaints about his 2013 clemency bid. Davis was sentenced to die for the 1994 murder of his ex-girlfriend's 11-year-old daughter, Kimberly Waters. Both executions come amid heightened scrutiny of lethal injections in the wake of Oklahoma's botched killing of Clayton Lockett.

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— Tracy Connor