NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A Tennessee inmate on death row is asking a federal court to stop his execution, which is scheduled for Thursday.
Edmund Zagorski has chosen electrocution over lethal injection. In a complaint filed on Friday, Zagorski's attorneys argue it was unconstitutional to force him to decide between 'two gruesome and painful forms of death.'
"Tennessee has coerced Edmund Zagorski to choose a cruel and unusual method of punishment by threatening him with torture," it reads.
The lawsuit asks that Tennessee be barred from executing Zagorski by either method. It also asks the court to order Tennessee to allow two attorney witnesses with access to a phone in case anything should go wrong.
State attorney general's office spokeswoman Samantha Fisher says the office doesn't comment on pending matters.
Zagorski earlier lost a legal challenge to lethal injection.