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Florida To Execute Man Convicted In Race-Motivated Murder 

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — The drug etomidate has never before been used in any U.S. execution, but the state of Florida hopes that won't result in the state's first execution in more than 18 months being halted by the nation's highest court.
If his final appeals are denied by the U.S. Supreme Court, 53-year-old Mark Asay is to die by lethal injection after 6 p.m. Thursday. Asay was convicted of two racially motivated murders in Jacksonville in 1987. He would be the first white man executed for killing a black person in Florida history. The execution is Florida's first since the U.S. Supreme Court halted the practice in the state. It's expected to be carried out using etomidate, an anesthetic recently approved by the Florida Supreme Court. Two other drugs will also be used.