LAS VEGAS (AP) — Nevada officials are pressing toward the state's first execution in 11 years, naming the state's top psychiatrist as interim replacement for the anesthesiologist who resigned last week after signing off on the lethal injection plan.
Jordan Smith, of the state attorney general's office, told a judge Monday in Las Vegas that Dr. Leon Ravin has replaced Dr. John DiMuro as the state's top doctor.
That makes Ravin the medical official with primary responsibility for next week's scheduled execution of twice-convicted murderer Scott Dozier.
Dozier wants his sentence carried out.
But he's letting federal public defenders challenge the state plan to use a never-before-tried combination of drugs for his scheduled Nov. 14 execution at Ely State Prison.
The judge says she'll hear from Dozier himself on Wednesday.
