For the moment at least, a clemency petition before Gov. Timothy M. Kaine is Christopher Scott Emmett's sole hope for escaping execution Thursday.

However, his lawyers plan to ask the full 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to rehear a challenge to the lethal-injection procedures used by Virginia. A panel of that same court turned it down 2-1 earlier this month.

Emmett, 36, is facing execution for the 2001 slaying of John F. Langley, 43, a roofing co-worker beaten to death with a lamp in a Danville motel room.

Emmett alleges that Virginia's lethal-injection procedures could lead to an unconstitutionally cruel and unusual punishment.

On July 10, two appeals court judges held that Virginia's procedures were similar to those of Kentucky recently upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. The dissenting judge said there were not enough facts to make such a determination.

The Virginia Capital Representation Resource Center said Friday that it planned to ask the full court of appeals to hear the case.

Emmett won reprieves twice last year just hours before scheduled executions, once from Kaine and once from the U.S. Supreme Court. He will die Thursday shortly after 9 p.m. unless Kaine or the courts step in again.

States that use lethal injection use the same three drugs. Critics of Virginia's procedures say a condemned inmate could be rendered paralyzed by the drugs, but remain conscious, or regain consciousness, while experiencing great pain.

Langley's mother, Elizabeth Majors, does not care if the procedure is painful. She says her son did not have a painless death, and she sees no reason why Emmett should.

"I want to know that he has suffered . . . just like my son suffered when he killed him. That's what I want, I want to know that he gets a little dose of it, too," said Majors, 72, of Gasburg in a recent phone interview.

She said she and her family have suffered because of the two prior executions that were called off. In both cases, family members were on their way to the Greensville Correctional Center to witness the execution.

"I can't take much more of it," she said.

"My son's two children are hurting, still hurting today because of it. They get upset every time that thing is canceled. . . . I want to see it done and over with so this family can have some relief," Majors said.

Since the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the death penalty to resume in 1976, Danville has sent at least eight men to death row. Three of them, Johnny Watkins Jr., Dana Ray Edmonds and Ronald L. Watkins have been executed.

Four other condemned Danville killers, William Ira Saunders, Terry Williams, Calvin Swann and Percy Levar Walton escaped their sentences, either by court action or clemency. Swann, who has since died, and Walton had mental-health problems.

If carried out, Emmett's would be the 102nd execution in Virginia since 1976 and the fourth this year.

Contact Frank Green at (804) 649-6340 or fgreen@timesdispatch.com.