TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Julia Wilburn on Nov 11, 2025

Tennessee death row inmate Harold Wayne Nichols on Monday declined to choose between the electric chair and lethal injection for his Dec. 11 execution, meaning the state will default to lethal injection, according to the Associated Press. Nichols was sentenced to death in 1990 after he was convicted of raping and murdering Karen Pulley, a 21-year-old student at Chattanooga State University, two years earlier. In 2024, Tennessee announced a new lethal injection protocol to administer a single drug, pentobarbital. The move was challenged in a March lawsuit brought by nine death row inmates, one of whom has since been executed. Soon after, Nichols sued the state to delay his execution until litigation over the execution drug is resolved. His attorneys also have filed suit seeking access to state records on execution procedures.