Although top state officials approved prison officials' plans Tuesday to have a doctor monitor inmates during executions, lethal injections are unlikely to go forward.

Gov. Mike Easley and the Council of State found themselves thrown into the middle of a debate about whether doctors can help administer the death penalty. The question is likely headed back to the courts and may end up in the legislature.

So far, three executions have been delayed. Two other inmates who are scheduled to die soon also likely will see their executions put on hold.

"Obviously, there's clearly a moratorium in place right now," Easley said. "How long that will last will depend on how long it takes to untangle this Gordian knot."

The Council of State comprises Easley, the lieutenant governor and eight top statewide elected officials. It voted 7-3 to approve a Department of Correction policy that would have doctors "monitor the essential body functions of the condemned inmate" -- despite the N.C. Medical Board's rule that doctors cannot participate in executions.

Tuesday's meeting was unusual for a panel of state leaders that usually meets monthly to approve leases and right-of-way easements. Television trucks lined the street outside the Department of Administration building. Almost every seat inside the fifth-floor conference room was filled, and many had to be reserved for staff and reporters.

"No one anticipated the Council of State would be involved in this at this stage given the complexity of the problem," Easley said.

Some council members questioned whether it was appropriate for them to be part of the debate, and the council voted unanimously to ask state lawmakers to consider the issue.

"It's going to end up in the legislature one way or another," said Rich Rosen, a University of North Carolina law professor who opposes the death penalty. "The question is how long they want to play around before they do that."

Neither House Speaker Joe Hackney nor Senate leader Marc Basnight could be reached for comment Tuesday.

Prison officials have found themselves in a predicament: To have a federal court consider executions constitutional, they must have a doctor monitor an inmate's consciousness. But the N.C. Medical Board has ruled a doctor can be disciplined for participating in an execution in any way beyond being present.

To comply, prison officials told a federal judge a nurse would watch the brain waves.

Then inmates' attorneys argued to a state judge that without a doctor to ensure inmates are sedated, they might suffer an unconstitutional cruel and unusual punishment. The judge in that case said the Council of State and the governor had to vote on what a doctor would do in the death chamber.

"What you have is a direct conflict between what the Department of Correction has put forth and what the Medical Board has put forth," said Raleigh lawyer Elizabeth Kuniholm, who represents James Campbell, a death row inmate whose Friday execution has been stayed.

It is not clear where the debate will go next.

N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper, whose office represents the prison system, said Tuesday that he wanted the council to act before his staff talks with the N.C. Medical Board about its ethics policy.

"The purpose of bringing this today was to bring something to them," Cooper said.

Medical Board officials declined to comment. The board's next scheduled meeting is Feb. 21.

Wake Superior Court Judge Donald Stephens, who stopped the three executions and sent prison officials seeking the council's approval, may ultimately have to settle the dispute.

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