Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden said the last-minute delay in the execution of Paul Ezra Rhoades this morning was prompted by a motion for a stay filed at 3 a.m. by an attorney from Mountain Home who had never previously represented Rhoades, and who didn't purport to be representing him now. "At about 8 o'clock this morning, 8:11, I believe ... the administrative district judge in Ada County issued a denial of that stay," Wasden said. The motion for stay charged that Rhoades' attorneys weren't properly qualified; they were appointed by the federal court to represent him in the capital case.

"I would say it was somewhat unexpected," Wasden said.