WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal government is appealing a judge's opinion that halted its planned Friday execution of a man who kidnapped, raped and killed a 10-year-old Kansas girl. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington, D.C., said Thursday the law requires the government to get a prescription for the drug it plans to use to execute Keith Dwayne Nelson in Terre Haute, Indiana. The government argues the drug, pentobarbital, is not subject to the law when used for lethal injections. Nelson pleaded guilty in 2001 and was sentenced to death in the 1999 kidnapping, rape and killing of Pamela Butler, who was rollerblading in front of her home when abducted.
