The U.S. Supreme Court has refused an appeal from a Texas death row inmate set for execution this week for killing his parents in Lubbock 15 years ago.
The justices Monday rejected claims from 43-year-old Michael Yowell. He's set for lethal injection Wednesday evening in Huntsville.
Attorneys for Yowell unsuccessfully argued he had poor legal help during his trial and in early appeals of his conviction and death sentence.
Other attorneys have challenged Yowell's scheduled punishment because Texas prison officials carrying out the punishment will be using a lethal dose of pentobarbital obtained from a compounding pharmacy not subjected to usual federal scrutiny. A federal district judge in Houston over the weekend rejected that lawsuit filed on behalf of Yowell and two other condemned Texas inmates.
