Federal judge upholds Ohio lethal injection system

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A federal judge has rejected the latest challenges to lethal injection in Ohio, saying an appeals court has settled the issue.

The decisions by U.S. District Court Judge Gregory Frost Thursday and Friday also upheld the state's never-tried backup method that injects drugs directly into muscle.

Thirteen death row inmates challenged Ohio's relatively new one-drug injection method, arguing the state has botched too many attempts to find suitable veins.

Frost says a string of decisions by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals already turned down the argument that injection is cruel and unusual.

He agreed to let inmates continue to argue they should have access to their attorneys during executions and that the state applies its execution rules arbitrarily.