Michael A. Morales
PER
Michael A. Morales Morales
The legal maneuvering will delay the execution of the condemned man, Michael A. Morales, 46, for months if not longer and will be closely watched. Death penalty opponents cheered California's decision to delay the Morales execution, a step the state took after concluding that it was unable to comply with the order of a federal district judge in San Jose that customary injection procedures be altered. Although Mr. Morales's lawyers and death penalty opponents hope the case may ultimately produce a binding ruling that lethal injection is unconstitutionally cruel and unusual, the issue before Judge Fogel was narrower.