Ohio Killer Asks Supreme Court To Halt Execution

A condemned Ohio killer facing execution next week by an untried lethal drug process has asked the U.S. Supreme Court for a reprieve. Attorneys for Dennis McGuire argue that the jury that sentenced him to death never heard the full extent of McGuire's troubled childhood because of poor legal representation. The request late Wednesday is separate from McGuire's argument in a lower court that the two-drug combination will cause him "agony and terror" as he struggles to catch his breath. The Supreme Court filing says jurors never learned that McGuire was malnourished, had to regularly steal food and was frequently beaten. McGuire was condemned for the 1989 rape and fatal stabbing of Joy Stewart, who was eight months pregnant. The Ohio attorney general's office is expected to oppose the filing.