The U.S. state of Ohio has postponed its next two scheduled executions to review its death penalty procedures after a failed execution last month.
Ohio Governor Ted Strickland announced the postponements Monday after a federal court of appeals ordered the delay of one of the executions, scheduled for this Thursday.
Both actions stem from the attempted execution through lethal injection of convicted rapist and murderer Romell Broom on September 15. Technicians at a state prison tried unsuccessfully for two hours to find a vein suitable to apply the injection.
The governor issued the stay of execution to allow the state to establish a set of back-up procedures for dealing with long delays in carrying out an execution.
Meanwhile, a federal court hearing is scheduled for November 30 to determine if it is constitutional for the state of Ohio to attempt to execute Broom a second time.
Of the 50 U.S. states, 35 currently have the death penalty.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.