Tue Feb 21, 2006 8:24 AM ET

By Carolyn Abate

SAN QUENTIN, California (Reuters) - The execution of a California man was delayed for at least 15 hours early on Tuesday after two court-appointed anesthesiologists walked off the job over ethical concerns.

Michael Morales, whose attorney had recruited former Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth Starr to back his bid for clemency, had been scheduled to die at 12:01 a.m. PST for the rape and murder of an 17-year-old girl in 1981.

San Quentin State prison spokesman Lt. Vernell Crittendon said the execution was rescheduled for 7:30 p.m. PST on Tuesday. Without the doctors present, the state will need to alter the chemicals used in the execution.

[From Times Online] Officers at the jail near San Francisco had been ordered by a court to make sure that the 46-year-old prisoner was sedated to minimise his pain before he was given a lethal injection.

Only hours before the execution, however, both the anaesthetist and a second doctor called in as a back-up withdrew, concerned about a requirement that they intervene in the event that Morales woke up or appeared to be in pain during the procedure.

"Any such intervention would clearly be medically unethical," the two doctors, who have not been identified, said in a statement. "As a result, we have withdrawn from participation in this current process."

The American Medical Association, the American Society of Anesthesiologists and the California Medical Association have all opposed the doctors’ participation as unethical and unprofessional.

Defense attorneys had claimed last week that the use of the lethal injection was cruel and unusual punishment, barred by the Constitution.

This prompted a judge to order prison officials to either alter the composition of the lethal chemicals used or make medical experts available to ensure unnecessary pain was not inflicted during the execution.

U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel had expressed concern that two of the three chemicals used in California, which should kill within a minute, sometimes took several minutes before stopping the condemned person's heart. The state then agreed to provide an unidentified anesthesiologist to attend the execution.

In a statement last week, Dr. Priscilla Ray, chairwoman of the American Medical Association Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs, condemned the ruling that required the anesthesiologists present.

PUBLIC APPEALS

The weeks leading up to Morales' date for execution drew considerable public attention due to allegations of forged documents in a clemency petition filed by the defense team, and a federal judge's ruling that required doctors be on hand to make sure the execution was properly administered.

The scrutiny began when Morales' long-time attorney, David Senior, recruited former Whitewater prosecutor Starr to help in the appeal process. Starr is currently the dean of Pepperdine University Law School.

Even the judge who handed down the death sentence wrote a letter supporting the clemency bid.

Days after they filed a request for clemency with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, San Joaquin County prosecutors accused Starr and Senior of submitting forged documents. The sworn statements of six jurors supporting the clemency bid and another statement from a prosecution witness recanting her testimony were proved to be forgeries by the prosecuting team.

Senior and Starr said they did not conduct the interviews that led to the questionable documents but relied on another attorney. They quickly withdrew the documents but pressed the clemency bid.

Schwarzenegger denied the request on Friday.

Morales is the 14th person to be put to death in California since the death penalty was reinstated in 1978