Pharmaceutical firm Alvogen argued the state had illegitimately obtained one of its drugs and that the proposed drug combination was untested in executions.

Scott Raymond Dozier, a twice-convicted killer, has said he prefers to be executed rather than stay in prison.

On Wednesday morning, a judge sided with the company and ordered a delay.

Clark County District Court Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez issued the ruling after Alvogen argued that the prison had tricked their distributor into selling the drug, despite the company’s known objection to selling it for executions.

The execution of 47-year-old Dozier had been scheduled for Wednesday night.

Officials had planned to use an untried three-drug lethal injection made up of the sedative midazolam, the synthetic opioid fentanyl and the muscle paralytic cisatracurium.

The drug cocktail is meant to slow breathing and eventually paralyse the prisoner’s muscles to stop their breathing.

Click here to read the full article.