NASHVILLE - A Davidson County judge ruled Friday that the state's lethal injection method is unconstitutional, paving the way for a delay in the execution of death row inmate Stephen Michael West. A final decision on the issue will be made by the state Supreme Court, which technically must issue a stay for the execution to be delayed. Sharon Curtis-Flair, a spokeswoman for the state attorney general, said an appeal is likely. Chancellor Claudia Bonnyman ruled that West's lawyers showed that Tennessee's lethal injection procedure "allows for death by suffocation while conscious."