Pennsylvania death row inmate gets stay of execution

By Elizabeth Daley NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Pennsylvania man sentenced to death for murdering four people was granted a stay of execution on Tuesday so he could join lawsuits challenging the state's execution methods, according to authorities. Michael Ballard, 41, of Allentown had been sentenced to die on Dec. 2 for the murders of his former girlfriend, Denise Merhi, her father, Dennis Marsh, her grandfather, Alvin Marsh, and her neighbor, Steven Zernhelt. He pleaded guilty His execution was postponed indefinitely so he may participate in lawsuits over the state's use of lethal injection drugs, according to Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli. Morganelli said he did not object to Northampton County Judge Emil Giordano's ruling to postpone the execution, saying if Giordano did not grant a stay, another judge would have done so. "In Pennsylvania we haven't executed anyone here since the 1990s because of all kinds of court delays," Morganelli said. The last execution in Pennsylvania took place in 1999, when Gary Heidnik of Philadelphia was put to death for rape, imprisonment and two murders. In the wake of botched lethal injections in other states, the ACLU and four newspapers have sued Pennsylvania's prison system to unseal records on the drugs used in its executions. A class-action suit brought by anti-death penalty advocates in federal court in Pennsylvania claims lethal injections violate the U.S. Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Ballard's lawyer, Michael Corriere, could not be reached for comment. (Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst and Sandra Maler)