On 4 April, a three-judge panel of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals granted Philip Workman a stay of execution, less than 48 hours before he was due to be executed at 1am local time on 6 April 2000. The Sixth Circuit panel took the unusual step of granting him an “en banc” hearing in front of the full court (14 members). It has given the defence lawyers until 17 April, and the state until 1 May, to file their briefs with the court. After that, a date will be set for oral arguments to be heard.
