( CNN ) -- A federal appeals court has ordered a judge to rethink a ruling that would have led to the execution of a California inmate . The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling , released late Monday night , says a U.S. District Court must now set a hearing to determine the fate of death row inmate Albert Greenwood Brown . The ruling may delay Brown 's execution that was scheduled for Thursday . Brown was sentenced to death in 1982 for raping and murdering a high school student . His execution would be the first in California since 2006 , when legal challenges arose and prompted the state to revise its lethal injection procedure . The federal appeals court said a U.S. District Court made a mistake when it recently said that Brown should choose between a one-drug or a three-drug option for his lethal injection . `` The district court 's decision to provide Brown the choice of a one drug option is not consistent with California state law and procedures , '' the court ruling said . `` California law does not provide the condemned a choice between a three-drug protocol or a one-drug option . '' The ruling was not meant to decide Brown 's guilt or innocence , but only was considering the `` narrow issue of the manner and timing of Brown 's execution in a fashion that comports with the Eighth Amendment 's protection against cruel and unusual punishment , '' the federal appeals court said . The ruling could also delay Brown 's execution for some time because California is running low on one of the drugs that is used in lethal injection . The state 's supply of sodium thiopental is set to expire on October 1 and will not be avaliable until early next year , the appeals court said . Brown was sentenced to death in 1982 for the rape and murder of Susan Jordan , who was walking to Arlington High School in Riverside when Brown pulled her into an orange grove , according to court documents . He raped and strangled her with her own shoelace and took her school identification cards and books . Later that evening , Brown looked up her family in the phone book and called their home , the documents state . `` Hello , Mrs. Jordan , Susie is n't home from school yet , is she ? '' court documents quoted him as saying . `` You will never see your daughter again . You can find her body on the corner of Victoria and Gibson . '' He also placed a call to police directing them to her body . During the investigation , three witnesses identified Brown as being near the scene of the crime . Police also found Susan 's school books and newspaper articles about her death in Brown 's home , and clothing with semen stains in Brown 's work locker . During the penalty phase of Brown 's trial , his lawyer claimed his client was remorseful and presented psychiatric evidence suggesting that Brown had emotional problems , including sexual maladjustment and dysfunction . The jury deliberated for three hours before returning a death verdict , according to an opinion issued September 19 by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals . California 's last execution was on January 17 , 2006 , when Clarence Ray Allen was put to death for three counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances . From behind bars , he had helped orchestrate a deadly armed robbery at a convenience store . CNN 's Bill Mears , Augie Martin and Emanuella Grinberg contributed to this report .
If it proceeds , the execution will be the first since a lethal injection review . He is asked to choose between single injection or multi - drug cocktail . He was sentenced to death in 1995 for the rape and murder of 15-year - old Susan Jordan .