A Douglas County judge has rejected an appeal by death row inmate Carey Dean Moore.

Moore challenged the state's intention to use lethal injections. District Judge Thomas Otepka ruled Thursday that the process of execution is not the same as the death sentence itself, so any errors in the steps toward the execution don't void the sentence.

Moore was convicted of killing two Omaha cab drivers in 1979. He was to be executed in June 2011. The Nebraska Supreme Court stepped in, saying Moore couldn't be executed until his Douglas County appeal is resolved.

Moore's attorney, Jerry Soucie, questions the legality of Nebraska's purchase of a key drug from an Indian company. Soucie says Friday no decision on Moore's next court step will be made for several weeks.