Lawyers seek to block Idaho execution of terminally ill man
By KEITH RIDLER
Associated Press
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A terminally ill man scheduled to be executed in mid-December for his role in the 1985 slayings of two gold prospectors in Idaho is asking a federal court to block the execution. Attorneys for 66-year-old Gerald Ross Pizzuto Jr. say in documents filed Monday that they want the U.S. District Court to issue a preliminary injunction halting a state death warrant issued last week. His attorneys are also seeking a six-month administrative stay of the execution to allow time for litigation for the preliminary injunction. The preliminary injunction request is based on Idaho’s procedures allowing religious accommodations in the execution chamber.