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ByMichaelGraczyk The Associated Press HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS A federal appeals court Wednesday stopped the scheduled lethal injec- tion of a former accoun- tant hours before he was to be executed for gun- ning down his two young daughters in Dallas 15 years ago while his ex- wife — their mother — was listening helplessly on the phone. Attorneys for John David Battaglia argued he deserved a court-ap- pointed attorney to inves- tigate claims that he may be mentally incompetent for execution, and that a hearing should be held on those assertions. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed, halting the punishment about seven hours before Battaglia, 60, was sched- uled to be taken to the Texas death chamber. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that a prisoner can be executed if he's aware that the death pen- alty is set to be carried out and understands why he's facing the ultimate sentence. The appeals court said Battaglia "has presented some evidence of mental illness and delusions," al- though it was not clear if he was incompetent. "His newly appointed counsel may locate and produce more (evidence)," the three-judge appellate court panel based in New Orleans said in a 10-page ruling halting the execu- tion. The court also sup- ported arguments that Battaglia's previous court- appointed attorney, after the Supreme Court de- cided in January to not review his case, had ef- fectively abandoned him, leaving him without a way to prepare his incompe- tency claim. "In our view, it would be improper to approve his execution before his newly appointed counsel has time to develop his (incompetency) claim," the court said. Battaglia had been left "effectively unrepresented for critical periods of time," accord- ing to the appeals court. The state of Texas said it had no plans to appeal. Battaglia was convicted of killing his daughters, Faith, 9, and Liberty, 6. Authorities said the slay- ings were revenge for their mother's complaints to Battaglia's parole offi- cer that led to a warrant for his arrest. Evidence showed that at the time of the shoot- ings, Battaglia was on probation for a Christ- mas 1999 attack on his estranged wife Mary Jean Pearle, the girls' mother. Their divorce was final- ized the following August. Around Easter 2001, Battaglia called Pearle, swearing at her and call- ing her names, a viola- tion of his probation. She reported the incident to his probation officer and Battaglia learned on May 2, 2001, that an arrest warrant had been issued. That evening, Pearle left their daughters with him for a planned dinner. She soon received a message that one of the girls had called for her. Pearle returned the call and Battaglia put her on speakerphone, telling Faith to ask her mother: "Why do you want Daddy to go to jail?" Pearle heard the child cry out: "No, Daddy, please don't, don't do it." Pearle yelled into the phone for the girls to run and heard gunshots, fol- lowed by Battaglia telling her: "Merry ... Christmas," the words divided by an obscenity. After hearing more gunfire, Pearle hung up and called 911. Evidence showed Faith was shot three times, Lib- erty five. A semiautomatic pistol found near the kitchen door was among more than a dozen fire- arms recovered from Battaglia's apartment. Hours later, Battaglia was arrested leaving a tattoo shop where he had two large red roses inked on his left arm to commem- orate his daughters. Nine convicted kill- ers have been executed in the U.S. this year, five in Texas. Another Texas inmate is set to die next week. APPEALS COURT Texas man gets reprieve before scheduled execution Findusonline! By Sean Murphy The Associated Press OKLAHOMA CITY A federal agency approved a new la- bel for a common abor- tion-inducing drug that will undermine restrictions on medication abortions passed by several states, al- lowing women to take the drug later in a pregnancy and with fewer required of- fice visits. The Food and Drug Ad- ministration (FDA) notified the manufacturer of the drug Mifeprex in a letter on Tuesday that the drug is safe and effective for ter- minating a pregnancy in accordance with the new label. Also known as mife- pristone, the drug is used in combination with an- other drug, misoprostol, to end a pregnancy. While abortion providers in most states already are using the protocol outlined in the new label, laws in ef- fect in Ohio, North Dakota and Texas prohibited "off- label" uses of the drug and mandated abortion pro- viders adhere to the older protocol approved in 2000. Similar laws in Arizona, Ar- kansas and Oklahoma have been on hold pending legal challenges. Under the new label, a smaller dose of mifepris- tone can be used up to 70 days after the beginning of the last menstrual period instead of the 49-day limit in effect under the old la- bel. Also, the second drug can be taken by a woman at home and not be re- quired to be administered at a clinic. "The FDA's approval of a label reflecting a more up- dated, evidence-based pro- tocol for medication abor- tion has the potential to ex- pand women's options for safely ending a pregnancy in the earliest weeks," said Nancy Northup, the presi- dent and CEO of the Cen- ter for Reproductive Rights. "This label change under- scores just how medically unnecessary and politi- cally motivated restrictions on medication abortion in states like Texas and Okla- homa truly are, and dem- onstrates the lengths poli- ticians will go to single out reproductive health care to restrict women's rights." Abortion rights support- ers say they expect provid- ers in Ohio, North Dakota and Texas to begin admin- istering the drugs in accor- dance with the new label within the next few days. Chris France, executive director of Preterm, Ohio's largest abortion provider, said: "We will be imple- menting the new protocol today." France said before Ohio's law prohibiting off-label use of the drugs went into effect, between 10 and 15 percent of patients elected for a medication abortion. That number dropped be- low 2 percent after the law took effect. "Combined with other restrictions in our state, medication abortion has re- quired four in-person clinic visits, making this method too costly and cumbersome for most people," France said. "Now, our providers will no longer be forced to practice medicine man- dated by politicians whose goal is to shut us down." Randall O'Bannon, di- rector of research for the anti-abortion group Na- tional Right to Life, said medication-induced abor- tions still are dangerous and have led to at least 14 deaths and thousands of in- juries. He says the new pro- tocols serve mostly the in- terests of the abortion in- dustry by increasing their profit margin by requiring a smaller dose of the drug and reducing the level of staff they have to devote to the patient. "It looks like this ben- efits the abortion indus- try and increases their po- tential customer base and revenues, but it's not clear that anything here makes it safer for women in the long run, and certainly nothing about a chemical abortion makes it any safer for the unborn child," O'Bannon said. FDA APPROVAL New abortion drug label could undo several state laws PRESIDENTIAL RACE SETHWENIG—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton laughs during a rally at the Apollo Theater in New York, on Wednesday. By Ken Thomas and Bryna Godar The Associated Press MILWAUKEE Hillary Clin- ton's campaign aims to ef- fectively end the Democratic primaries against Bernie Sanders by early May. But first she needs to navigate tricky contests in Wiscon- sin and her home state of New York. Clinton enters April with a big delegate lead and in- sider support among Demo- crats crucial to the nomina- tion. But Sanders is pointing to victories in five of the past six states holding contests — among them, three western states — and views Wiscon- sin as a home for the pro- gressive causes he has long supported. "We are on a roll. Our campaign has momentum," Sanders told a crowd of about 4,000 Tuesday night inside the Wisconsin State Fair Park Products Pavilion in Milwaukee. A win by Sanders here next week would put pres- sure on Clinton to deliver in New York, which she rep- resented in the Senate. Re- turning to New York ahead of the state's April 19 pri- mary, Clinton campaigned at Harlem's famed Apollo Theater and unveiled a new television ad taking on Re- publican Donald Trump's hardline immigration poli- cies and violence at some of his rallies. Wisconsin, with its mix of urban and rural vot- ers, could offer parallels to its Midwestern neighbors. Sanders' triumph in Michi- gan earlier this month was one of the biggest moments of his campaign but Clinton defeated him a week later in Illinois and Ohio, setting up a new fight. Sanders, reprising a mes- sage he used effectively againstClintoninMichigan, said disastrous trade poli- cies led to the 1996 loss of Milwaukee's Johnson Con- trols plant to Mexico and the closure of Janesville's Gen- eral Motors plant in 2008. In a play for Demo- crats' hearts, Clinton has slammed Republican Gov. Scott Walker, a former pres- idential candidate who rose to prominence through his fights with organized labor. Clinton accuses Walker of "taking a wrecking ball" to the rights of workers and women. She also puts Walker at the center of her critique of Sanders' plan to provide free tuition at pub- lic colleges and universities, saying it relies too heav- ily on governors kicking in funding. Sanders, who advocates for large voter turnout at every turn, has lashed out against Wisconsin's voter identification, fault- ing Walker with making it harder for people to vote. Sanders, despite the wins in Washington state, Alaska and elsewhere, still faces significant hurdles. Clinton has won 1,243 pledged dele- gates compared to Sanders' 980, according to a count by The Associated Press. Clinton'sleadgrowswhen including superdelegates, or party officials like members of Congress and state lead- ers who can back any can- didate they wish. Includ- ing superdelegates, Clinton has 1,712 delegates to Sand- ers' 1,011. It takes 2,383 to win and Clinton's team has suggested April 26 prima- ries in Pennsylvania, Mary- land, Connecticut, Rhode Is- land and Delaware as a time when it could essentially seal the nomination. Then-Illinois Sen. Barack Obama defeated Clinton handily in Wisconsin's pri- mary in 2008. Her team has suggested that either a narrow victory or loss would not have a major in- fluence on the overall dele- gate count. And there's new cause for concern. A new opinion poll from Marquette University shows 49 percent of likely Democratic primary voters in Wisconsin support Sand- ers, compared to 45 percent for Clinton. About 6 percent of respondents were unde- cided. The results are within the survey's margin of error. In New York, both can- didates are preparing for a drag-out fight in a state where both have roots. At a rally in New York's iconic Harlem neighbor- hood Wednesday, Clinton sought to emphasize her dif- ferences with Sanders while touting her home state ad- vantage. "My opponent says, well, we're just not thinking big enough," she told support- ers. "Well, this is New York. Nobody dreams bigger than we do. But this is a city that likes to get things done. And that's what we want from our president too." Clinton faces April tests in Wisconsin, New York 5,141fans+116 this week | NEWS | REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 2016 4 B