LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – The Nebraska Attorney General’s office has asked the state Supreme Court to reject a request by death row inmate Michael Ryan to put his upcoming execution on hold.
Nebraska Solicitor General J. Kirk Brown filed his request Tuesday.
Ryan was sentenced to death for the 1985 cult-related murder of a man and child near Rulo. His motion says Nebraska’s lethal injection protocol did not exist during his conviction, sentencing and previous appeals. For that reason, he says, none of the grounds for relief he’s seeking could have been raised in previous pleas.
Brown argues that the Nebraska Supreme Court has repeatedly held that the mode of execution is separate from the procedures a trial court uses to sentence a defendant.

FREMONT, Neb. (AP) – A Nebraska city’s attempt to fight illegal immigration appears likely to be more of an inconvenience for legal residents than a deterrent to illegal immigrants.
Fremont’s newly court-approved ordinance won’t have any effect beyond the city limits. That means two major meatpacking plants and some neighborhoods that have large immigrant populations won’t be covered by the requirements.
The rules add red tape for businesses and renters.
Businesses must use the federal E-Verify database to ensure employees are legal.
Potential renters must swear they are legal residents and pay $5 to obtain a renting permit. But the city won’t be able to revoke the permits of applicants found to be illegal immigrants.
Backers say the provisions approved by a federal judge represent progress on the issue.

NORFOLK, Neb. (AP) – The suspect in a Norfolk shooting says it was an accident.
34-year-old Carlos Arevalo-Martinez twice told a Madison County judge on Tuesday that the Feb. 14 shooting was accidental. Arevalo-Martinez made the statements through an interpreter.
Arevalo-Martinez is charged with assault and use of a firearm to commit a felony. He’s suspected of shooting 33-year-old Edna Gutierrez. Gutierrez, who was shot in the head, remains hospitalized in Omaha. She’s also known as Edna Little Elk.
Arevalo-Martinez remains in jail on $1 million bond.
He’s due back in court on Tuesday.