The Circuit Court of Cole County Order in Winfield v. Lombardi is available via St. Louis Public Radio.
"Inmate's challenge to execution secrecy rejected," is the AP report, via WGEM-TV.
A Cole County judge has rejected a Missouri death row inmate's request to halt his upcoming execution by challenging the state's refusal to disclose the identity of its drug supplier for lethal injections.
Condemned inmate John Winfield sought a preliminary injunction that would postpone the June 18 execution. He argued that the Missouri Department of Corrections is violating state public records laws by keeping the details about where it obtains the drug secret.
Circuit Judge Jon Beetem was sympathetic to Winfield's appeal In a ruling issued Friday but sided with the state's argument that the Sunshine Law challenge needed to be brought to trial rather than through a court order.
St. Louis Public Radio posts, "With Injunction Denied, Death-Row Inmate Faces Execution Before His Sunshine Law Case Is Heard," by Chris McDaniel.
On Friday, a Cole County judge denied a death row inmate's request to order the state to turn over records on the lethal drugs that will be injected into him.
Inmate John Winfield attempted to speed up the legal process with a preliminary injunction because his execution is scheduled for June 18.
His lawyer, Joe Luby, argued that the Missouri Department of Corrections is violating the sunshine law by keeping secret the identity of the supplier of the execution drug.
"The General Assembly has set the balance by decreeing that public records, not subject to an exception, must be disclosed," wrote Judge Jon Beetem in the Cole County 19th Judicial Circuit Court in his order. "That balance is protected by providing a process, i.e. a lawsuit and judgment, before compelling disclosure when there is a dispute." (Emphasis his.)
Speaking before the judge on Wednesday, Luby argued that it was "a matter of simple dignity."
The following is a statement from one of Mr. Winfield’s attorneys, Joseph Luby:
“Missouri case law and the State’s Sunshine Statute are clear that government records are open to the public. No exception applies here. The government must function in an open, transparent and honest manner, especially in the context of taking the life of one of its citizens. Without the records we have requested, there is no way to ensure that Mr. Winfield’s scheduled execution would be carried out in a humane manner, in compliance with state and federal law, and the U.S. Constitution.
“In light of recent botched executions in Oklahoma, South Dakota, and other states, as well as the stay granted by the U.S. Supreme Court to Missouri prisoner Russell Bucklew, the State must not be permitted to move forward with the execution of Mr. Winfield until much more is known about the drugs the State plans to use. Because Missouri plans to use pentobarbital from a compounding pharmacy, Mr. Winfield is at additional risk for a prolonged, torturous death.
“The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent stay of Mr. Bucklew’s execution shows that the judiciary is properly concerned about Missouri’s execution procedures. Today’s ruling emphasized that the court was denying only a preliminary injunction rather than deciding the ultimate question of whether the Sunshine Law provides access to records about the Department of Corrections’ execution drugs and where those drugs come from. At this point, there is not time for the court or the parties to complete their lawsuit to the point of a final judgment before the scheduled execution date of June 18. Mr. Winfield will therefore be asking the Missouri Supreme Court to stay his execution so that his meritorious claims do not become moot.”
Before the ruling, River Front Times reported, "Will John Winfield Be the Fourth Inmate Missouri Executes During A Federal Appeal?" It's by Danny Wicentowski.
Missouri's affair with the death penalty has become a monthly ordeal. Six inmates have been executed since November, and it would have been seven if not for a convicted murderer's birth defect.
Now, we've got June 18 to look forward to -- that's the date John Winfield is scheduled to die for murdering two women in 1996. But Winfield's lawyer worries that Missouri will prematurely kill his client before the higher courts can fully review his motions. That's not a baseless worry, either.
"It's only Missouri that has this nasty habit of executing people while state remedies are still pending," says attorney Joesph Luby, who cites three other recent executions where Missouri offed an inmate before receiving the federal go-ahead to do so.
Earlier coverage of John Winfield's case begins at the link.
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