2:15 P.M. UPDATE:
The Arkansas Supreme Court says it won't halt the lethal injection of two death row inmates scheduled to be executed this month.
Justices Thursday rejected separate requests by Stacey Eugene Johnson and Ledell Lee to stay their executions scheduled for April 20. Johnson had asked the court to allow him to seek new testing of evidence from his murder conviction in the 1993 death of Carol Heath. The evidence includes hairs found at Heath's apartment.
EXECUTIONS: In-depth look at 4 men put to death in April + 3 others whose executions were stayed
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Lee said the judge in his murder trial overstepped his bounds in fighting an effort to have Lee's appointed attorney replaced.
The court didn't elaborate on its reason for denying the requests in the separate one-page orders.
Arkansas is scheduled several inmates over an 11-day period beginning April 17. The stay requests are among several court challenges by the inmates aimed at halting the unprecedented multiple execution plan.
Read Friday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.
EARLIER:
A spokesman for Arkansas' attorney general says the state will continue to defend its plan for multiple executions at the end of the month, saying that the victims' families deserve to see justice in the cases.
Judd Deere is spokesman for Republican Attorney General Leslie Rutledge. He noted that a federal judge on Thursday only blocked one of the eight executions scheduled for this month.
Deere says Rutledge will respond to all legal challenges that might occur "as the prisoners continue to use all available means to delay their lawful sentences."
The first two executions are set for April 17, though other legal challenges are pending.