Florida executes man with new lethal injection drug

By Bill Cotterell TALLAHASSEE, Florida (Reuters) – Florida prison officials on Tuesday carried out what they described as the first execution in the United States using the sedative midazolam hydrochloride in a lethal injection. Midazolam was pumped into William Happ, 51, as the first of three drugs in a lethal injection cocktail designed to induce unconsciousness, paralysis and death by cardiac arrest, the Florida Department of Corrections said. He was pronounced dead at 6:16 p.m. …