Michael Angelo Morales (born October 17, 1959) is an American convicted murderer who was scheduled to be executed by the State of California on February 21, 2006.

His defense team argued, however, that since he was high on PCP at the time, the murder does not qualify for the "special circumstances" required by California state law for the death penalty.

The prosecution countered with evidence showing that Morales gathered tools before the encounter, practiced strangulation on two female acquaintances, and confessed to an informant while in jail.

[1] Immediately prior to Morales' execution date, Senior filed papers claiming that five out of the 12 jurors had doubts about sentencing him to death.

Morales' original execution date of February 21, 2006, was postponed as a result of two court-appointed anesthesiologists withdrawing from the procedure.

This is the first death row inmate extant since a judge ruled that the current combination of drugs may cause severe pain, as corroborated by an April 2005 study published in The Lancet.

Having failed to find a medical professional willing to carry out the execution, California decided it could not comply with the judge's decision and would allow the death warrant to lapse.