Today's St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports, "Missouri says it's ready to execute murderer – the question is how," by Jeremy Kohler.
The Missouri Department of Corrections said Tuesday that it planned to go ahead with the execution of Michael A. Taylor on Feb. 26, even though its access was cut off to a sedative it had planned to use for the lethal injection.
The unanswered question was how.
An Oklahoma pharmacy agreed Monday not to provide Missouri corrections officials with pentobarbital and acknowledged it had not already provided the drug for the execution. Taylor had sued the pharmacy after attorneys and other death penalty opponents had publicly named the pharmacy as the source of Missouri’s execution drug.
Taylor’s attorneys said in documents filed in federal court that they believed the state had no pentobarbital. But on Tuesday, a spokesman for the Department of Corrections said in an email that Missouri was “prepared to carry out the execution … following the established execution protocol” using pentobarbital.
He would not say directly whether the state had the drug on hand.
"Missouri officials declined comment on execution supply," is the AP report, via the Springfield News-Leader.
The head of the Missouri Corrections Department is remaining silent on whether the state has enough of its execution drug to carry out next week’s scheduled lethal injection.
Director George Lombardi told the Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday that he couldn’t comment on the state’s drug supply. But he did say the state cannot stockpile pentobarbital produced by a compounding pharmacy because of its shelf life.
"Missouri execution of Michael Taylor remains on track, governor says," is the Kansas City Star report by Tony Rizzo and Jason Hancock.
“We will be prepared to move forward with the necessary responsibility to effectuate the ultimate penalty next week,” the governor said.
In their motion for a stay, attorneys for Taylor said any pentobarbital the state previously had stockpiled now would be expired.
And reports that the state may have alternative lethal injection chemicals on hand, if true, would leave Taylor little time to mount a legal challenge, his attorneys argued.
While being questioned during a recent deposition, a Missouri corrections official testified that the state had obtained the drugs midazolam and hydromorphone as a “backup” for use in executions.
But the state’s written lethal injection protocol only specifies the use of pentobarbital. In a written statement released Tuesday afternoon, the Department of Corrections said it was prepared to carry out the execution “following the established execution protocol.”
St. Louis Public Radio posts, "Another Federal Judge Criticizes Missouri For Haste In Carrying Out Executions," by Chris McDaniel. There is audio at the link.
Missouri's recent executions have sparked controversy lately -- not just for the secrecy and the source of the execution drug but also for the state's speed in carrying them out.
The Department of Corrections has carried out three executions in as many months. In all those cases, the inmate still had appeals pending at the time the state executed him.
It's something legal experts have expressed concern and alarm over. Last week, 8th Circuit Chief Judge William Riley admonished the state for its actions.
"The state of Missouri executed somebody -- which they probably had the right to do -- right in the middle of the petition for rehearing voting," Riley said to Missouri Assistant Attorney General Stephen Hawke. "And I wanted you take back the word [to the attorney general's office] that some of the members did not appreciate that. We were right in the middle of voting on that."
Hawke was appearing before the court in an unrelated case.
Additional coverage includes:
"US state says execution to continue as drug supplier backs out," by AFP.
Courthouse News Service posts, "Drug Questions Won't Derail Missouri Execution," by Joe Harris.
"Missouri says it's ready to execute Taylor following proper protocol," by UPI.
"Missouri scrambles for execution drugs after pharmacy cuts off supply," by Ed Pilkington for the Guardian.
"Missouri Denied Execution Drugs By Pharmacy," by Josh Sanburn for Time.
"Pharmacy agrees not to provide execution drugs," by Meredith Clark of MSNBC.
Reuters posts, "Oklahoma pharmacy agrees not to supply drug for Missouri execution," by Carey Gillam.
"Missouri Execution Stalled Over Lethal Drugs In Short Supply," by Laura Sullivan on yesterday's edition of NPR's All Things Considered. There is audio and a transcript at the link.
The NPR and WBUR produced, Here & Now interviews St. Louis Public Radio reporter Chris McDaniel, who has done much of the enterprise reporting on th issue in, "Oklahoma Pharmacy Says No To Providing Execution Drug." Again, there is audio at the link.
"A death penalty dilemma for Missouri as drug supplier backs out," is by Scott Martelle at the Los Angeles Times' Opinion LA blog.
"Missouri Fights to Execute Michael Taylor, Who Is Suing the Maker of Lethal Drug," is by Nick Chiles for Atlanta Black Star.
Earlier coverage of the pending Missouri execution begins at the link.
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