Execution could move foward after Supreme Court ruling

The execution of a death-row inmate in Missouri is still on hold pending a court fight.

Missouri’s attorney general asked the U.S. Supreme Court late Wednesday to clear an appeals court stay that is delaying the Wednesday execution of Herbert Smulls.

The high court had issued a temporary stay shortly before Smulls was scheduled for execution at 12:01 a.m. The Supreme Court lifted that stay around 5 p.m., but another appeal is still pending.

Under stay law, the state has until the end of the day to carry out the execution.

Smulls’ attorneys filed several appeals, mostly challenging the state’s refusal to disclose the name of the company that supplies its execution drug.

Smulls was sentenced to death for killing jewelry store owner Stephen Honickman during a 1991 robbery.