Ruling that the current mix of drugs used to carry out California’s lethal injections may constitute cruel and unusual punishment, U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel has ordered California to alter its lethal injection procedures before it carries out the scheduled execution of Michael Morales on February 21. Fogel, who said he is troubled by the prospect that inmates may be conscious and undergoing extreme pain once a paralyzing agent and then a heart-stopping drug are administered during executions, ordered the state to either have an expert present to ensure that Morales is unconscious from the sedative or to replace the state’s three-drug execution mix with a single lethal dose of a barbiturate. The ruling gave the state until the end of Wednesday (Feb. 15) to choose an expert, or until Thursday to choose the single-drug method. If the state does not comply with his order, Fogel will stay the execution and have hearings on whether the state’s lethal injection protocols are cruel and unusal punishment. (Associated Press, February 14, 2006). Read Judge Fogel’s Order. See Methods of Execution. UPDATE: California has elected to have an anesthesiologist present for the execution to monitor unconsciousness.