The StandDown Texas Project

Oklahoma Has No Margin for Error

That's the subtitle of an editorial published in today's Oklahoman, "State right to seek delay in pending Oklahoma executions."

THE state attorney general’s office did the right thing in requesting that Oklahoma hold off on any executions. The governor and head of the Department of Corrections are to be commended for agreeing.

And:

The need to get the next execution absolutely right is great. Lockett’s execution attracted considerable attention beforehand in part because the state used a three-drug mixture that had never been used in this country. The way the execution wound up being carried out has placed a greater spotlight on the state.

The Oklahoman also report, "Inmates' lawyers ask court to find state officials in contempt of court," by Graham Lee Brewer.

Lawyers representing 21 death row inmates have filed motions to hold the state’s commissioner of public safety and chief medical examiner in contempt of court for not providing subpoenaed documents.

The inmates filed a lawsuit against the state in June, asking a federal court to bar the state from executing them in the same manner as Clayton Derrell Lockett, whose April lethal injection lasted 43 minutes. In the lawsuit, the inmates raise concerns the procedure will violate their rights against cruel and unusual punishment.

Filed on Wednesday after a hearing between the state and the inmates’ attorneys, the motions are against Commissioner of Public Safety Michael Thompson and Chief Medical Examiner Eric Pfeifer, alleging the state officials failed to provide documents related to Lockett’s execution that were requested in September.

Earlier coverage from Oklahoma begins at the link.

Oklahoma Inmates Press LI Challenge

"Death row inmates file contempt motions," is the AP report, via the Lawton Constitution.

Lawyers for Oklahoma death row inmates who filed a federal lawsuit seeking to block their executions have filed motions to hold the state's public safety commissioner and medical examiner in contempt of court for not turning over documents they have subpoenaed.

The motions were filed Wednesday against Commissioner of Public Safety Michael Thompson and Dr. Eric Pfeifer, chief medical examiner. They state documents the death row inmates' lawyers requested almost five months ago have still not been turned over.

Earlier coverage from Oklahoma begins at the link.  You can also jump to news of the inmates' lawsuit.

 

Ohio Prosecutors Back DeWine LI Secrecy Plan

"Ohio prosecutors demand immunity for execution drug makers," is the AP report filed by Andrew Welsh-Huggins, via the Guardian.  It's also available from HuffPost.

Ohio prosecutors want the identities of pharmacists who create specialty doses of execution drugs shielded, and say doctors who consult with Ohio about its execution process should be given immunity from regulatory discipline.

The proposals, which appear in draft legislation, address concerns about the state’s current two-drug injection method, said John Murphy, executive director of the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association.

Executions are on hold until February because of challenges to the method, which has resulted in prolonged executions in Ohio and Arizona. Without a viable way of executing prisoners, “we don’t have a death penalty in the state,” Murphy said Thursday.

If enacted, the laws would bring Ohio into line with states like Missouri and Texas, which each use a single, compounded dose of pentobarbital to put inmates to death. The states won’t say where the drug comes from.

Alan Johnson writes, "Proposal would make executions more secretive," for the Columbus Dispatch.

Changes in Ohio’s lethal-injection law advocated by Attorney General Mike DeWine and Ohio prosecutors would create a new layer of secrecy around Ohio executions by shielding drug suppliers, physicians who advise the state, execution team members and others from public disclosure.

DeWine and the prosecutors say the state will in effect have a moratorium on capital punishment until those changes are made because of the difficulty in obtaining drugs used to execute convicted killers.

The legal changes, in draft form, were endorsed last week by the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association.

If enacted, they would allow drug-compounding companies to supply drugs for lethal injections while remaining anonymous to the public, media and defense attorneys,  The Dispatch learned. The proposal would officially label as “confidential state secrets” the names of those who manufacture, compound, import, transport, test and distribute drugs and equipment used in lethal injections.

Also contemplated is a law providing total legal immunity for a physician to advise the state on execution protocol at court hearings and possibly even become a part of the execution team. Another provision would extend anonymity to state prison employees on the execution team.

Earlier coverage of the Ohio Attorney General's secrecy proposal begins at the link.

With this post, I'm adding state secrecy to the category index.

Russell Bucklew in Missouri

"Bucklew gets day in court; decision could take weeks," is by Emily Priddy of the Southeast Missourian.

Lawyers for the state of Missouri and for convicted murderer Russell Bucklew made their cases in federal appellate court Tuesday, but a decision about whether and how Bucklew should be executed could be several weeks away.

"We presented our argument today," Bucklew's attorney, Cheryl Pilate, said in an email to the Southeast Missourian. "There is no time line for a decision. Could be weeks. Maybe longer."

Bucklew, 46, had been scheduled to die by lethal injection at 12:01 a.m. May 21, but about six hours before his death warrant was set to expire, the U.S. Supreme Court stayed his execution to allow the federal 8th Circuit Court of Appeals more time to review his case.

Bucklew suffers from a rare condition called cavernous hemangioma that causes weakened blood vessels and large vascular tumors that obstruct his airways.

An Emory University medical professor who reviewed Bucklew's medical records has said the tumors could rupture during the execution process, causing him to choke to death on his own blood, or Bucklew's death could be prolonged and painful as a result of either drug interactions or problems with his circulation.

And:

A key issue in the arguments Tuesday was whether Bucklew was obligated to suggest alternatives that would allow the state to execute him without violating his constitutional rights.

St. Louis Public Radio posts, "Appeals Court Hears Two Challenges Brought By Death Row Inmates," by Chris McDaniel.

On Tuesday morning, a federal appeals court heard arguments in two lawsuits brought by inmates on death row against the Department of Corrections, alleging the state's execution methods violate the Eighth Amendment, the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

Missouri uses pentobarbital mixed by an anonymous compounding pharmacy in what the state has claimed is a one-drug protocol. A St. Louis Public Radio investigation revealed last week that the state has also been injecting significant amounts of another drug, midazolam, into inmates on death row.

Two cases are before the court: one brought by a consortium of inmates on death row. The other is brought by an inmate whose execution was halted by the U.S. Supreme Court after medical experts examined him, and said his tumors would likely make his execution a grisly affair.

Earlier coverage from Missouri begins at the link.  You can also jump to news of Russell Bucklew's case.

Continuing Coverage of Oklahoma DPS Report on Botched Execution

The Oklahoma DPS report,'The Execution of Clayton Lockett is available in Adobe .pdf format.  You can also access it via the New York Times.

Today's Tulsa World publishes the updated report, "IV errors, lack of training cited in Oklahoma botched execution report," by Cary Aspinwall and Ziva Branstetter.  It's the single most detailed news article.

Oklahoma planned to execute two inmates on the night of April 29, but the prison didn’t have key medical equipment or a contingency plan in case things went wrong.

The state’s official investigation, released Thursday, cites problems with the IV that was supposed to deliver the lethal drugs as “the single greatest factor” in Clayton Lockett’s botched execution. The report recommends several remedies to Oklahoma’s execution protocol, including improvements in training, communication, and a backup plan in case something goes wrong.

A paramedic and doctor in the execution chamber made numerous attempts to start an IV that night, but most were ultimately unsuccessful, the report revealed.

"IV Misplaced in Oklahoma Execution, Report Says," is by Erik Eckholm in the New York Times.

An official report released Thursday about a bungled execution in Oklahoma in April says that an improperly placed intravenous line in the prisoner’s groin allowed the drugs to perfuse surrounding tissue rather than to flow directly into his bloodstream.

The report was ordered by Gov. Mary Fallin after the prolonged writhing and gasping of the prisoner, Clayton D. Lockett, during an execution that drew global attention to death penalty procedures and problems associated with lethal injections.

Because the groin area was covered with a sheet as the injections began — first a sedative intended to render Mr. Lockett unconscious, and then paralyzing and heart-stopping agents — the doctor and paramedic on the scene did not see the bulge, larger than a golf ball, indicating a procedure gone awry, said the report by Michael C. Thompson, the commissioner of public safety.

"Oklahoma report: Executioners need more training," is AP coverage by Tim Talley.

Oklahoma turned to a 15-year physician and a medical technician with 40 years' experience to put Clayton Lockett to death, yet his execution still went awry.

Now, investigators are recommending more training for executioners, blaming Lockett's flawed, lengthy lethal injection on April 29 on poor placement of intravenous lines and a warden's decision that modesty was more important than monitoring Lockett for signs of trouble. The three drugs administered were not a factor, the state said.

The findings and recommendations of the governor-requested, state-handled investigation highlight the difficulty that death penalty states face in making sure the people performing a grim medical procedure are properly prepared to see it through.

Also from AP, "Oklahoma executions on hold after release of report on botched injection," via the Guardian.

In its report released on Thursday about the troubled 29 April execution of Clayton Lockett — who was declared dead 43 minutes after his execution began — the state department of public safety made 11 recommendations including more training for medical personnel and having additional supplies of lethal drugs and equipment on hand.

The corrections director, Robert Patton, is reviewing the guidelines, Fallin said, adding that she expects the department to implement them before executions resume. Three executions have been set for November and December, the first on 13 November.

Governor Mary Fallin said she still believes the death penalty is a just punishment for those guilty of the most heinous crimes, but that the state must make sure it is carried out effectively.

 There is extensive additional coverage, including:

'Oklahoma report blames intravenous-line woes for problematic execution," by Michael MuskaL for the Los Angeles Times.

"Oklahoma Finds Faulty IV Insertion 'Major Issue' in Botched Execution," by Nathan Koppel in the Wall Street Journal.

"Report: IV difficulties behind botched Oklahoma execution," by Mariano Castillo at CNN.

"Oklahoma investigation into botched execution finds problems with IV insertion, training of execution team," by Mark Berman in the Washington Post.

"Okla. executioners unaware drugs missed inmate's vein," by Gregg Zoroya at USA Today.

"Prison warden present at botched execution handed Oklahoma role," by Katie Fretland for the Guardian.

"IV badly placed in botched US execution," by AFP, via GlobalPost.

"Failed IVs and confusion at Oklahoma's troubled execution -  report," by Jon Herskovitz and Heide Brandes at Reuters.

"Report: IV line incorrectly placed in botched Oklahoma execution," by Frances Burns for UPI.

"Oklahoma report: Botched execution result of poor monitoring of IV line," at Al Jazeera America.

"State Releases Summary of Lockett Execution Investigation," by Matt Trotter at Tulsa Public Radio.

Oklahoma's Skiatook Journal reports, "Rep. Dorman comments on execution report."

Rep. Joe Dorman, Democratic Party nominee for governor, released the following statement on the findings of the state's investigation on Clayton Lockett's botched execution:

"Once again, Mary Fallin has succeeded in creating a biased report in her continued efforts to keep Oklahomans from knowing the full truth. This report was led by Fallin's Cabinet Secretary of Safety and Security, Mike Thompson, who can be fired by Fallin and witnessed the botched execution. I question his ability to conduct an unbiased investigation. Further, until recently her office kept the official execution logs and autopsy report under lock and key, leaving us all to wonder what Mary is hiding.

"Report finds inconsistent accounts of Lockett execution," by Janelle Stecklein of CNHI News Service, via the Muskogee Daily Phoenix.

"Oklahoma DPS commissioner offers remarks on execution investigation," at the Oklahoman.

"Oklahoma halts death row executions after investigation into botched lethal injection," by Amar Toor at the Verge.

"Oklahoma Execution Review Finds Lack Of Training, 'Antiquated' Processes," by Chris Geidner at BuzzFeed.

Earlier coverage of the Oklahoma DPS report on the botched execution of Clayton Lockett begins at the link.

Oklahoma Releases Report on Botched Execution

The Oklahoma report on Clayton Lockett's botched execution is available in Adobe .pdf format.

"IV errors, lack of training cited in Oklahoma botched execution report," is the Tulsa World report by Cary Aspinwall and Ziva Branstetter.

The stress of two planned executions in one day, a lack of proper equipment and no backup plan hampered Clayton Lockett's execution, according to a report released today.

The report, released today by the Department of Public Safety, also found that DOC lacked a longer needle and other equipment that medical professionals requested to insert the IV. It also states that officials took no steps to revive Lockett after his execution went awry and the blinds were closed.

Gov. Mary Fallin’s staff began preparing a stay of execution for Lockett but he died before it could be issued, the report states.

“There was conversation inside the chamber about administering life-saving measures to Lockett, including transporting him to the emergency room, but no order was given,” the report states.

The Oklahoman reports, "State releases investigation on botched execution," by Rick Green and Graham Lee Brewer.

Among the investigation’s findings was that “the IV access point was the single greatest factor that contributed to the difficulty in administering the execution drugs.”

It also found that while there were deviations in the state’s execution protocol during the procedure, they did not contribute to complications.

“Despite those deviations, it was determined the protocol was substantially and correctly complied with throughout the entire process,” the report states. “None of the identified deviations contributed to the complications encountered during this execution.”

A timeline of the execution included in the report stated Gov. Mary Fallin’s office told state Corrections Department Director Robert Patton to proceed with the lethal injection, after it became clear only one viable IV had been placed.

The report also sheds light on the moments inside the death chamber that took place after the blinds were closed. According to the investigation’s timeline, a paramedic re-entered the chamber after the blinds were closed to assist the physician in determining the problem with the IV. The physician then observed the lethal drugs had apparently leaked into Lockett’s muscle tissue.

"Problems with IV line affected Okla. execution," is the Associated Press coverage by Tim Talley and Kristi Eaton.

A paramedic and physician inserted the intravenous line in Lockett's groin after failing to find suitable veins in his arms, legs, neck and feet. The report says the IV site was covered with a sheet and not monitored until Lockett began moving unexpectedly after receiving two doses of drugs.

"The physician observed an area of swelling underneath the skin and described it as smaller than a tennis ball, but larger than a golf ball. The physician believed the swelling would have been noticeable if the access point had been viewed during the process," the report said.

The Guardian posts, "Oklahoma state report on botched lethal injection cites medical failures," by Katie Fretland and Jessica Glenz.

The report, the result of an investigation announced by governor Mary Fallin, recommends more training for the medical personnel involved in administering lethal injections and the drafting of a contingency plan should further executions go wrong.

It cites several failures surrounding the insertion of the IV line meant to administer the lethal drugs for the heart attack that ultimately led to Lockett’s death. It says the paramedic who first attempted to insert a needle had no tape with which to secure it, and “before the tape was retrieved, the vein became unviable”.

After two more failed attempts, a physician became involved. State officials also consulted with a physician certified with the American Board of Surgery during the investigation, but did not identify the doctor or clarify if it was the same doctor. Licensed physicians are under strict rules that limit their involvement in executions.

When a vein was finally located in Lockett’s groin, the prison warden requested a sheet to cover the insertion area “to maintain Lockett’s dignity and keep his genital area covered”.

It was that sheet that ultimately complicated the execution. “No one had visual observation of the IV insertion point until it was determined there was an issue and the physician raised the sheet,” the report says. The inability for witnesses and medical personnel to monitor the IV “ led to the issue being discovered several minutes after the execution began”.

"How to Avoid Botched Executions, According to Oklahoma," is by Dustin Volz for National Journal.

Oklahoma state officials have completed a review of April's botched execution of Clayton Lockett and determined that oversights in monitoring the IV line likely contributed to problems witnessed during his prolonged death.

The investigation, conducted by the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety and made public Thursday, concluded that "the viability of the IV access point was the single greatest factor that contributed to the difficulty in administering the execution drugs."

The report largely absolves government officials of direct blame in Lockett's failed execution, which was described as a grisly affair by witnesses and prompted a national conversation about the efficacy of lethal injections as the preferred method of capital punishment in the United States.

And:

The report also lists 10 largely bureaucratic recommendations, including general suggestions such as improving interagency communication, better training of officials, and adoption of consistent "execution terminology." It makes no determination as to the effectiveness of the drugs used in Lockett's execution, including midazolam, a sedative that has been used in three botched executions this year.

"Faulty IV Insertion ‘Major’ Factor in Botched Oklahoma Execution," is by Jacob Gershman for the Wall Street Journal Law blog.

Oklahoma Republican Gov. Mary Fallin in May temporarily halted executions in the state and called for a review of its lethal-injection procedures. The state is scheduled to carry out two executions in November and one in December.

Earlier coverage of Oklahoma's botched execution of Clayton Lockett begins at the link.

News Coverage of Pennsylvania Hearing

The Allentown Morning Call posts, "Judge orders further psychiatric evaluation of Michael Ballard," by Riley Yates and Pamela Lehman, following this morning's hearing in Pennsylvania.

Mass murderer Michael Eric Ballard's hearing Friday rejecting any appeals of his death sentence began with Ballard objecting to an evaluation by a psychiatrist.

Ballard was brought before Northampton County Judge Emil Giordano in a wheelchair, cuffed, with a large legal folder in his lap.

Giordano said he wanted a psychiatrist to again evaluate Ballard to make sure he was competent to waive any appeals, but Ballard objected. Ballard said during his trial, he had been evaluated by a number of mental health experts and said another evaluation was not necessary.

And:

Despite a series of questions, Giordano said he wanted Ballard again evaluated to determine his competency. The judge appointed Dr. Frank Dattilio, a forensic psychologist from Salisbury, to evaluate Ballard's competency, despite his objections.

Giordano also appointed Ballard's trial attorneys, Michael Corriere and James Connell, to continue to represent him, and issued an order barring the Federal Community Defender Office in Philadelphia and other anti-death penalty lawyers from entering their appearances without permission of the court.

Earlier coverage of the Pennsylvania case begins at the link.  Related posts are in the volunteer category index.

Additional Coverage of Dr. Mark Dershwitz

The Guardian posts, "US executions face more uncertainty as expert refuses to defend drug protocols," by Jessica Glenza.

The decision of America’s leading expert on lethal injection drugs to stop offering court testimony has left at least one state without a single witness to defend its execution procedures from legal challenges.

The New Republic reported this week that Dr Mark Dershwitz, citing potential impacts to his profession as a board-certified anesthesiologist, would no longer act as an expert witness on behalf of lethal injection protocols. Dershwitz, also a doctor of pharmacology and professor at the University of Massachusetts medical school, has testified as an expert witness in more than 20 states and for the federal government. In June, he withdrew himself as a witness in a case challenging the execution of Montana’s two death-row inmates – convicted murderers Ronald Smith and William Jay Gollehon.

And:

Dershwitz “has been, for over a decade, probably the most important state’s expert in this particular area”, said Deborah W Denno, an execution expert at Fordham law school.

“I think states are going to be scrambling for lethal injection experts in the same way they’ve been scrambling for drugs,” said Denno, referring to states’ lack of pentobarbital, a barbiturate used to treat epilepsy that is deadly in certain doses. “They don’t have any people testifying on their behalf.”

Earlier coverage of Dershwitz's withdrawal from cases begins at the link.

Continued Examination of Arizona's Botched Execution

"Would a jury find state of Arizona guilty of murder?," is EJ Montini's latest column in the Arizona Republic.  Here's the beginning:

There are 14 aggravating factors the state of Arizona can use to convince a jury to impose a death sentence.

One of the most popular – if that is the right word – is No. 6, which reads: "The defendant committed the offense in an especially heinous, cruel or depraved manner."

(It's what the Jodi Arias sentencing trial will focus on.)

If a jury believes that the manner in which a defendant killed someone fits No. 6's rather broad description then the state of Arizona can kill him. Or her.

It's a huge decision, which is why we make sure it is made by an impartial, independent group of citizens.

But what happens if the way we killed a killer also fits the description of aggravating factor No. 6?

Pacific Standard posts, "Death Row in Arizona: Where Human Experimentation Is the Rule, Not the Exception," by Ted Scheinman.

Jan Brewer, the governor of Arizona, has offered rosy declarations about the integrity of her state’s execution protocols. “Justice was carried out today,” she announced after the gasping, snorting, two-hour execution of Joseph Wood on July 23. The process that day took so long that Wood’s attorneys found time, during the second hour of the jerky proceedings, to file a stay against an execution that had already begun. With typical sangfroid, Brewer dismissed chilling accounts offered by witnesses to the execution, saying simply: “Inmate Wood died in a lawful manner, and by eyewitness and medical accounts he did not suffer.”

Still, as the Arizona Department of Corrections continues its internal review of the Woods execution, including the possible contamination of the two drugs used that day (midazolam and hydromorphone), watchdogs of various stripes are assessing the historical credibility of the state’s chemical doings.

The emerging picture is a nightmare—the portrait of a state and its malleable “execution protocol” that allows presiding doctors and prison administrators shocking latitude in choosing where to stick their needles, and what those needles will contain.

Earlier coverage of Arizona's botched execution begins at the link.

An LI Expert Bows Out of Working for Excuting States

"States' leading lethal injection expert ends role," is the report by AP Legal Affairs Writer Andrew Welsh-Huggins.  It's via the Lexington Herald-Leader.

An anesthesiologist said he would no longer act as an expert witness for states defending their lethal injection methods, creating another hurdle for corrections departments scrambling to find workable execution systems.

Mark Dershwitz, a University of Massachusetts anesthesiologist and pharmacologist, was the expert called by Ohio in support of its new two-drug combination that led to a troubling 26-minute execution in January. The same drug combination led to a nearly two-hour execution in Arizona last month, raising more questions about the drugs.

Dershwitz was a leading expert for prison officials, having offered his opinions for 22 states and the federal government over the past decade.

He announced his decision to terminate his role in June, saying Ohio had jeopardized his standing with the American Board of Anesthesiology in a news release it issued about the Jan. 16 execution of Dennis McGuire.

And:

Ohio said it might need Dershwitz again as an expert witness in upcoming executions, according to the April 30 letter. The state declined to comment on Dershwitz' announcement or say whether it would obtain a new expert. In an October court filing in federal court in Ohio, Dershwitz said he was paid $450 "for review and report writing" and $3,500 a day for testimony.

His expert opinion had involved either written affidavits in support of certain methods or testimony in court, including cross-examination by defense attorneys representing condemned inmates. Judges in states including Florida, Ohio and Oklahoma have relied on his testimony in approving state execution methods.

Earlier coverage of Ohio lethal injection issues begins at the link.

Opinion Roundup

"That problematic penalty," is the Boulder Daily Camera editorial, signed by Erika Stutzman for the Colorado paper's editorial board.

The State has become a ghoulish executioner.

Ohio became the most recent state to either end or halt the death penalty, as states around the country grapple with what has become an unacceptable part of our criminal justice system. A handful of states have recently, and rightfully, more or less permanently stepped away from the practice, finding it arbitrary, too costly, and in order to eliminate the very real risk that someone wrongfully accused could be put to death.

We had hoped the death penalty would end here in Colorado, too. Not because we believe there are innocent men on death row at present, but because it highlights how arbitrary the penalty can be. Where one commits a crime seems to factor in more than anything at all; the color of a convict's skin plays a role. Someone white could commit a heinous crime in Boulder and die in prison; if he were a young black man in Aurora committing the exact same crime, he might face death row.

Black people in Colorado's make up just 4.3 percent of the state's population. All three men on Colorado's death row are black, and were under the age of 21 when convicted. All three were prosecuted in Arapahoe County.

Wisconsin's Kenosha News publishes the editorial, "States should reconsider death penalty."

It was a botched execution in Kenosha that led to Wisconsin banning capital punishment.

Other states may have had other reasons for ceasing to use the death penalty, but in Wisconsin there was a direct link between a gruesome public execution and the Legislature’s decision to ban capital punishment.

Other states ought to be thinking the same way this year. There have been at least three executions that were eerily similar to the 1851 hanging of John McCaffery in Kenosha. The sheriff used a gallows that hoisted the prisoner into the air instead of dropping him through a trapdoor, which would break the prisoner’s neck and kill him instantly. McCaffery visibly struggled for five minutes in the noose and slowly strangled. It took 18 minutes before he was pronounced dead.

He was the first and last prisoner executed in the state of Wisconsin. A law banning capital punishment was passed in 1953 and is still in effect.

"Why executions can't (and shouldn't) be sterilized," is Kenneth Goodman's OpEd in the Arizona Republic.  He's a professor of medicine and philosophy at the University of Miami.

One might think that after some 4,000 years of drafting rules to govern the death penalty, we might be able to get it right. But we can't.

And as Arizona's botched, bungled and blundered execution last month of Joseph Rudolph Wood again makes clear, the notion that health professionals are most appropriate agents for killing prisoners is a sad and ghastly mistake.

A society convinced it needs to kill killers is in a tight spot. The guillotine is gruesome; hanging is old-fashioned; firing squads are messy; gas chambers evoke Nazi death camps; electric chairs are macabre and have unintended consequences. (Since 1890, the only form of execution with no botched attempts is the firing squad.)

Earlier coverage of Arizona's botched execution begins at the link.  Related posts are in the botch, editorial, and OpEd category indexes.

Exclusive Emails Show Ohio's Doubts About Lethal Injection

That's the title of a report at the New Republic, written by Ben Crair.  It's subtitled, "The state worried new drugs could make prisoners "gasp" and "hyperventilate"—and used them anyway."  Here's the beginning:

On July 23, Arizona took 117 minutes to execute a convicted murderer named Joseph Rudolph Wood III. It was not the nation’s first execution to last that long. In September 2009, Romell Broom entered the Ohio death chamber and exited two hours later still breathing—the only inmate in U.S. history to survive a lethal injection. The executioners had scoured his arms, legs, hands, and ankles for veins in which to stick their needles. But they repeatedly missed the vessels with the IVs. After at least 18 failures, Ohio had no choice but to cancel the execution.

In Wood’s execution, the trouble began when the drugs began to flow. Arizona’s executioners first injected Wood with a combination of midazolam and hydromorphone, two drugs they had never used before in an execution. When the first dose failed to stop his heart, the executioners administered a second. And then a third. The execution team injected 15 doses in total before a doctor finally pronounced death. An Arizona Republic reporter witnessing the execution said Wood gasped more than 640 times and that he “gulped like a fish on land.”

Despite their different problems, the attempted execution of Broom and the execution of Wood are connected by more than just their lengths. Had executioners in Ohio been able to insert IVs into Broom’s veins, Wood’s execution might have gone much more smoothly. That’s because the Broom debacle led Ohio to write a “Plan B” for lethal injections, introducing into the death chamber for the first time the untested drugs Arizona would use years later to kill Wood. And emails I obtained from Ohio reveal some of the state's internal debates and concerns about these drugs—including fears that an inmate could “gasp” and “hyperventilate” as he died.

Doctors warned from the beginning that midazolam and hydromorphone could create “a distasteful and disgusting spectacle.” And yet the drugs spread from Ohio across the country, revealing the lengths states will go to in order to carry out death sentences despite constant IV trouble, drug shortages, and problematic executions.

Earlier coverage of Arizona's botched execution begins with the preceeding post.  The latest news from Ohio is also available, as is coverage of Romell Broom's attempted execution.  Related posts are in the botch category index.

New York Times Examination of Arizona Execution Procedures

Today's New York Times reports, "Arizona Loose With Its Rules in Executions, Records Show," by Fernanda Santos and John Schwartz.  There is an infographic at the link.  Here's the beginning of the must-read:

In an execution in 2010 in Arizona, the presiding doctor was supposed to connect the intravenous line to the convict’s arm — a procedure written into the state’s lethal injection protocol and considered by many doctors as the easiest and best way to attach a line. Instead he chose to use a vein in an upper thigh, near the groin.

“It’s my preference,” the doctor said later in a deposition, testifying anonymously because of his role as a five-time executioner. For his work, he received $5,000 to $6,000 per day — in cash — with two days for practice before each execution.

That improvisation is not unusual for Arizona, where corrections officials and medical staff members routinely deviate from the state’s written rules for conducting executions, state records and court filings show. Sometimes they improvise even while a convict is strapped to a table in the execution chamber and waiting for the drugs coursing through his veins to take effect.

In 2012, when Arizona was scheduled to execute two convicted murderers, its Corrections Department discovered at the last minute that the expiration dates for the drugs it was planning to use had passed, so it decided to switch drug methods. Last month, Arizona again deviated from its execution protocol, and things did not go as planned: The convicted murderer Joseph R. Wood III took nearly two hours to die, during which he received 13 more doses of lethal drugs than the two doses set out by the state’s rules.

While it is unclear whether the constant changes have led to cruel and unusual punishment, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit became so disturbed in 2012 about the expired drugs that it chastised the state, saying Arizona “has insisted on amending its execution protocol on an ad hoc basis.” While the court permitted the two executions to proceed and they went off without a hitch, the Ninth Circuit nonetheless observed that Arizona had a “rolling protocol that forces us to engage with serious constitutional questions and complicated factual issues in the waning hours before executions.”

The Times also has a link to, "Court Filings From Arizona Prisoners’ Lawsuit."

"Excerpts From Arizona Doctor’s Deposition on Executions," has just been posted.  It will appear in tomorrow's print edition of the Times.

Following are excerpts from a deposition on Oct. 21, 2011, by an Arizona doctor who attended five executions as a “medical team leader” that sheds light on a process that is rarely presented in detail. The executions were between October 2010 and July 2011.

Aside from providing the official protocol for executions, most states do not disclose what happens in the execution chamber. The doctor, whose name was withheld in publicly available versions of the resulting 300-page document, answered questions from 8:36 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., and discussed execution methods, training and even the payment for his efforts.

At the end of the long and sometimes contentious session, the doctor surprised his questioners by announcing that he would no longer participate in executions in the state — not because he had criticism for or qualms about execution, but “because this process is very unpleasant, and it’s not really anything that I care to go through again.”

Earlier coverage of Arizona's botched execution begins at the link.

New Developments in Max Soffar's Case

Today's Dallas Morning News publishes the editorial, "Is this the type of execution Texans are comfortable with?"

Texans overwhelmingly support the death penalty, and, if we may presume to read their minds, the kind of execution they’re comfortable with looks like this: It involves a perpetrator whose guilt is beyond dispute, who’s fully responsible for his actions, and whose arrest and prosecution were free of any hint of chicanery.

That man is not Max Soffar, 58, a Texas death row inmate since Ronald Reagan’s sixth month in the White House.

The bizarre passage of 33 years is one tip-off that the state has a problematic case against Soffar, convicted twice in a triple slaying during a stickup at a Houston bowling alley.

And:

Today, Soffar’s appellate lawyers continue to battle the state, but he’s got a bigger fight on his hands — an aggressive strain of liver cancer that could prove fatal within months.

The Constitution Project, a bipartisan justice reform group, has taken up for Soffar in a clemency petition to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. Writing for the group, former Texas Gov. Mark White and former FBI Director William Sessions ask for compassionate relief so Soffar can die at home.

"Lawyers: Dying death row inmate deserves clemency," is Michael Graczyk's AP report, via the Beaumont Enterprise.  It's also available from the Tribune.

Attorneys have made a rare clemency request for one of Texas' longest-serving death row inmates, saying he should be freed before inoperable liver cancer soon takes his life.

Max Soffar, 58, has been on death row more than 33 years for a 1980 robbery at a Houston bowling alley where three people were shot and killed and a fourth was maimed. Soffar and his lawyers long have maintained that he's innocent, although he has been tried, convicted and condemned twice, most recently in 2006.

Soffar told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he "hurts bad ... like a squeezing pain on my liver."

"Nothing can save me, I'm going to die," Soffar said of the tumor that he said doctors discovered in June. "I've talked to my doctor — maybe five months, maybe four months, maybe three weeks."

There is no precedent, at least in modern times, for the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to recommend to the governor that clemency be granted in a death penalty case under these circumstances. Requests typically are filed as an inmate's execution is nearing or imminent. Soffar does not have an execution date and an appeal for him remains before a federal court in Houston.

Earlier coverage of Max Soffar's case begins at the link.

Independent Analysis of Ohio's Botched Execution - Updated

"Dennis McGuire's execution was not 'humane,' doctor says," is by Alan Johnson of the Columbus Dispatch.  Here's an extended excerpt from the beginning:

A sworn statement from a California anesthesiologist says that Dennis McGuire probably experienced “true pain and suffering” in his Jan. 16 execution, contrary to the opinion of Ohio prison officials.

“To a degree of medical certainty this was not a humane execution,” Dr. Kent Diveley, an anesthesiologist at Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego, said in an affidavit obtained for a lawsuit filed by McGuire’s family against the state.

Witnesses observed that McGuire, 53, gasped, choked, clenched his fists and appeared to struggle against his restraints for about 10 minutes after the administration of two drugs, midazolam and hydromorphone, before being pronounced dead at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility near Lucasville. It took more than 25 minutes for him to die after the drugs were administered. He was executed for the murder of 22-year-old Joy Stewart in 1989.

Diveley gave McGuire’s attorneys a three-page statement after examining the timeline of McGuire’s execution, the prison execution policy, and other documents. He did not examine the inmate’s body because he was cremated soon after the execution.

Diveley said hydromorphone is an “older narcotic used to treat pain.” The dosage of midazolam used by the state was far too low, he said.

“Neither of these drugs combined in the doses can be depended upon to produce a rapid loss of consciousness and death,” the anesthesiologist said. “It is possible when this combination of drugs is used for lethal injection there will be a delay of several minutes before the inmates loses consciousness preceding death.”

AP coverage is, "Ohio execution 'was not humane', anaesthesiologist determines," via the Guardian.

A condemned Ohio inmate put to death during a prolonged execution experienced pain and suffering before he lost consciousness, an anesthesiologist working for the family of the inmate determined in a report released Tuesday.

Neither of the drugs used to execute Dennis McGuire on 16 January can be relied on to produce a rapid loss of consciousness and death, according to the affidavit by Dr Kent Diveley of Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego.

A higher dose of the sedative used by Ohio is needed to render someone unconsciousness, Diveley said, while the painkiller used by the state causes eventual death from lack of oxygen but couldn’t be depended on to produce unconsciousness, he said.

“It is possible that when this combination of drugs is used for lethal injection there will be a delay of several minutes before the inmate loses consciousness preceding death,” Diveley said. He said apparent straining gestures by McGuire represented “conscious voluntary actions”.

“They exemplify true pain and suffering in the several minutes before he lost consciousness,” the affidavit said. “To a degree of medical certainty this was not a humane execution.”

Earlier coverage of Ohio lethal injection issues begins at the link.

A Doctor Speaks Out

The Guardian's Comment is Free posts, "I was told to approve a lethal injection, but it violates my basic medical ethics," by Marc Stern.  Here's the beginning:

I peered through the small window of an otherwise solid steel door of the isolation wing of the prison, and saw a small man on his knees in front of his steel framed bed. He had committed many murders and was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. Perhaps he was praying. Perhaps he was looking for a pencil. But that’s when it struck me: There might be a punishment worse than execution.

Other than a maximum of one hour per day when he could be escorted to a recreational cage outdoors, he would spend the next 10, 20, perhaps 30 years of his life in this very room – eight feet by 10 feet. He would have little contact with other human beings aside from officers and medical professionals. Forging a new friendship or hugging a loved one, if possible at all, would be rare, supervised and not likely spontaneous. His life would be restricted to the same 80 square feet – forever.

It was 2005. I was making rounds as the assistant secretary for healthcare of the Washington State Department of Corrections. The death penalty and executions simply were not on my radar. My responsibility was only to ensure that incarcerated citizens were receiving safe, constitutionally adequate and humane healthcare.

Related posts are in the physician category index.

New Details Emerge From Arizona's Botched Execution

Late Friday, the Arizona Department of Corrections released 331 pages of documents related to the execution of Joseph Wood on July 23, 2014. Dale Baich, Counsel for Mr. Wood, has released the following statement in response to the revelation that Mr. Wood was injected with 15 separate doses of the experimental drug combination in violation of the Arizona execution protocol:

"The Arizona execution protocol explicitly states that a prisoner will be executed using 50 milligrams of hydromorphone and 50 milligrams of midazolam. The execution logs released today by the Arizona Department of Corrections shows that the experimental drug protocol did not work as promised. Instead of the one dose as required under the protocol, ADC injected 15 separate doses of the drug combination, resulting in the most prolonged execution in recent memory. This is why an independent investigation by a non-governmental authority is necessary."

The New York Times reports, "Executed Arizona Man Given 15 Times Standard Dose, Lawyers Say," by Fernanda Santos.

Lawyers for an inmate who was executed last month by lethal injection said Friday that his executioners injected him with 15 times the standard dose of a sedative and a painkiller during a procedure that lasted nearly two hours before their client was declared dead.

The execution of the inmate, Joseph R. Wood III, which was the fourth troubled one in the nation this year, renewed debate over the death penalty and prompted Arizona’s attorney general to order a temporary halt to executions in the state. The Arizona Department of Corrections announced Friday that it was seeking an outside investigator to conduct an independent inquiry into Mr. Wood’s execution.

And:

Medical experts said the amount of the drugs used in Mr. Wood’s execution was unprecedented and its effect unknown. Joel Zivot, an assistant professor of anesthesiology and surgery at Emory University Hospital, said there was inherent danger in repurposing drugs “designed to treat patients, to cure diseases,” because there was no dosage “indicated or prescribed as having the intent to kill.”

“They’re making this up as they go along,” Dr. Zivot said in a telephone interview.

"Joseph Wood Received 15 Injections Of Untested Drug Cocktail During Arizona Execution," is AP coverage by Astrid Galvan, via HuffPost.

Records released to Joseph Rudolph Wood's attorneys show he was administered midazolam and hydromorphone in 50-milligram increments 15 times between 1:53 p.m. and 3:45 p.m., for a total of 750 milligrams of each drug. He was pronounced dead at 3:49 p.m. after gasping more than 600 times while he lay on the table.

Arizona's execution protocol calls for 50 milligrams of each drug, although some states use as much as 500 milligrams of midazolam in their execution procedures.

"Those are pretty staggering amounts of medication. They did not shortchange in the dose," said Karen Sibert, a longtime anesthesiologist and spokeswoman for the California Society of Anesthesiologists.

Sibert, an associate professor at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, said patients who are sedated before a surgery typically receive no more than 2 milligrams each of midazolam and hydromorphone.

 "Arizona inmate injected 15 times, records show," is the Arizona Republic report by Michael Kiefer.

Wood's attorneys had filed motions for injunctions because the Department of Corrections would not reveal information about where it obtained its supply of midazolam and hydromorphone or about the executioners' medical qualifications.

Friday's news release also revealed that the execution team included a licensed medical doctor, a detail that the Department of Corrections had refused to provide before the execution.

But the major question in the motion for stay of execution was the drug midazolam, which has been part of three other executions since last October in which the inmates seemed to gasp for air and take longer to die than with other drugs used in lethal injection.

The Arizona Capitol Times reports, "Wood given 15 doses of lethal drugs during two-hour execution in Arizona," by Gary Grado.

In a press release Friday afternoon, Department of Corrections Director Charles Ryan said his July 24 order to commission an independent review of the execution is underway.   The review had been ordered by Gov. Jan Brewer.

Ryan said records of the execution process were released to attorneys for the state and Wood in accordance with standard department procedure.

"Wood's execution required 15 injections," is by Patrick McNamara for the Arizona Daily Star.

“I am committed to a thorough, transparent and comprehensive review process,” ADOC Director Charles Ryan said in news release on Friday, announcing he will engage an outside expert to review the execution.

“This will be an authoritative review to ensure that fact-based conclusions are reached regarding every aspect of this procedure, including the length of time it took for the execution to be lawfully completed.”

The Los Angeles Times reports, "After first drug dose failed to kill Arizona inmate, logs show 14 more," by Cindy Carcamo.

Some are calling into question whether the investigation into Wood’s death should be done by the agency in charge of his execution.

“I feel the investigation should not be done by the Department of Corrections itself, but by an independent investigator who will thoroughly and impartially answer the questions of what happened and why,” said state Sen. Ed Ableser.

“It is important to maintain public trust in our system of justice and our government," he added. "In pursuing justice, we must also remain faithful to our Constitution. The botched execution has caused serious concern on both sides of the aisle. We must do all we can to seek answers with honesty and transparency while avoiding any appearance of impropriety in this investigation."

Additional coverage includes:

"Arizona inmate Joseph Wood was injected 15 times with execution drugs," by Tom Dart for the Guardian.

"15 injections used in controversial Arizona execution, documents show," by Ben Brumfield at CNN.

"Inmate in two-hour execution got 15 times the standard dose of drugs, records disclose," by Debra Cassens Weiss at ABA Journal.

Earlier coverage of Arizona's botched execution begins with the preceding post.

The Latest News From Arizona

"IV Placed Correctly in Execution, Official Says," is the AP report.  It's available as a news brief in today's New York Times, or in long form, via the Tri Valley News.

Intravenous lines were placed correctly during the execution of an Arizona inmate whose death with lethal drugs took more than 90 minutes, a medical examiner said Monday.

Incorrect placement of lines can inject drugs into soft tissue instead of the blood stream, but the drugs used to kill Joseph Wood went into the veins of his arms, said Gregory Hess of the Pima County Medical Examiner's Office.

Hess also told The Associated Press that he found no unexplained injuries or anything else out of the ordinary when he examined the body of Wood, who gasped and snorted Wednesday more than 600 times before he was pronounced dead.

The Arizona Republic reports, "McCain backs off assertion that execution was torture," by Dan Nowicki.

Sen. John McCain is backing off his widely publicized assertion last week that the extended lethal-injection execution of Arizona double-murderer Joseph Wood was "torture."

"I don't know if it's exactly 'torture,' " McCain, R-Ariz., said Monday in an interview with The Arizona Republic. "But let me put it this way: I don't believe it's humane. Rather than use 'torture,' I think I'd rather use the wording that it's not humane. And I think that most people would agree with that.

"It shouldn't take two hours to die."

Politico posted, "John McCain: Arizona execution 'torture'," by Burgess Everett, on Friday.

“I believe in the death penalty for certain crimes. But that is not an acceptable way of carrying it out. And people who were responsible should be held responsible,” he said in an interview. “The lethal injection needs to be an indeed lethal injection and not the bollocks-upped situation that just prevailed. That’s torture.”

Earlier coverage of Arizona's botched execution begins at the link.

Continued News Coverage

Today's Wall Street Journal reports, "Secrecy Over Executions Faces Challenges," by Ashby Jones.

The move toward secrecy comes as states struggle to carry out capital punishment in a way that comports both with the Constitution's ban on "cruel and unusual punishment" and the desire for executions that are less gruesome than older methods, such as the electric chair or death by hanging.

But the trend has triggered a wave of lawsuits by the condemned, who argue they need details about the procedures, some of which rely on new drugs largely untested in lethal injections and have led to drawn-out executions. Without the information, they argue, they are unable to determine whether an execution runs the risk of causing needless pain and possibly violating the Constitution.

"Experts decry 'failed experiment' with new death penalty drug combinations," is the Guardian report by Ed Pilkington and Amanda Holpuch, and Tom Dart.

“There have been two executions using midazolam and hydromorphone, and both have led to problems. That indicates that it's possible that the combination doesn't work. These are failed experiments with this drug combination,” said David Waisel, associate professor of anaesthesia at Harvard medical school who has acted as an expert defence witness in many capital cases. “Given the two recent events it seems irresponsible to continue trying this combination.”

Mark Heath, a Columbia University anaesthesiologist in New York, and also a lethal injection expert, pointed out that of the 12 executions in which midazolam has been deployed, “four did not really go as you'd expect or want”. He said: "The common theme is that in all of them the prisoner seems to go to sleep but keeps moving or breathing for long after you'd expect that to happen.” He added that the use of midazolam was “at this point clearly a failed experiment”.

The experts' warnings add to pressure on the death penalty states that are wrestling with the fallout of recent botched or prolonged executions, most recently that of Wood on Wednesday. Eyewitnesses reported that the prisoner gasped for more than an hour, like “a fish on shore gulping for air”. John McCain, the Arizona senator, said the procedure had been “bollocks-upped” and said it was tantamount to torture – a charge all the more potent because McCain was a victim of torture in Vietnam.

Time posts, "America’s Execution Problem," by Josh Sanburn.

The prolonged execution in Arizona was the fourth troubled lethal injection death this year. If our most modern form of capital punishment isn't working, what happens to the death penalty?

"Arizona execution renews debate over methods," is by the Associated Press, via the Washington Post.

A third execution by lethal injection has gone awry in six months, renewing debate over whether there is a foolproof way for the government to humanely kill condemned criminals, and whether it’s even worth looking for one.

Earlier coverage of Arizona's botched execution begins at the link.

The Ethics of Creating Drugs for Execution

That's the title of the latest Ethics and Religion Talk column in the Grand Rapids Press of Michigan.  It's written by Rabbi David Krishef.

Ethics and Religion Talk is compiled and written by David Krishef, rabbi at Congregation Ahavas Israel in Grand Rapids. Krishef takes questions from readers and shares them with a panel of clergy, then provides the responses in collaboration with community engagement specialist Zane McMillin.

Related posts are in the lethal injection, physician, and religion category indexes.

 

Extensive Coverage of the Independent Autopsy Report

As noted Friday, the preliminary autopsy findings can be accessed at the link.

Scott Martelle writes, "That botched Oklahoma execution? Blame the kill team," in the Los Angeles Times Opinion LA blog.

Not surprisingly, we were right to be skeptical.

The state of Oklahoma tried last month to execute a killer named Clayton Lockett, and badly botched it. Oklahoma’s preferred act of barbarism is with a lethal injection. As witnesses watched, the execution seemed to drag on before Lockett, who had been declared unconscious from the sedative injected to start the three-drug protocol, began writhing and struggling against the restraints holding him to the gurney. The curtain quickly came down, and a short while later, prison officials emerged to say that the execution was aborted because Lockett’s “vein exploded,” but that Lockett had died anyway of a heart attack.

It was a statement deserving skepticism at the time, and a preliminary autopsy report now confirms that skepticism was justified.

No veins exploded. The autopsy found that Lockett had “excellent integrity of peripheral and deep veins for the purpose of achieving venous access” for receiving the killing mixture. The execution squad just couldn’t figure out how to do it. The examiner found bruising, puncture wounds and “the presence of vascular injury indicative of failed vascular catheter access.” The examiner also tellingly reported an “inability to confirm that a primary cardiac condition played any role in Mr. Lockett’s death (i.e., a heart attack).” Which means he likely didn't have an existing heart condition that would have killed him.

"Defense Reports Puncture Led to Botched Execution," is the New York Times report by Erik Eckholm.

Oklahoma executioners failed to place an injection line properly in a vein in the groin of Clayton D. Lockett, according to an independent autopsy commissioned by Mr. Lockett’s defense lawyers after his bungled execution drew wide attention to the problems of lethal injection.

The finding, released Friday, may explain why Mr. Lockett was not completely sedated, then writhed and moaned in apparent agony before dying of heart failure 43 minutes after the procedure began.

The finding contradicts the claim by Oklahoma prison officials that Mr. Lockett’s vein had collapsed or “blown,” as one described it. Instead, the new report indicates that Mr. Lockett’s femoral vein, located deep below the surface of the groin, was punctured by inexpert probing and that the execution drugs were not pumped directly into the bloodstream.

 "AUTOPSY ON EXECUTED OKLAHOMA INMATE CITES IV ISSUE," is by Sean Murphy of Associated Pres.

The team responsible for executing an Oklahoma inmate failed multiple times to insert an intravenous line into his body to deliver lethal drugs, even though the man's veins were in good condition, according to a private autopsy released Friday by attorneys for Oklahoma death row prisoners.

After the botched execution of Clayton Lockett, prison officials had said an IV specialist was unable to find suitable veins on his arms, legs or feet. Oklahoma executions typically involve IVs inserted into both arms. A doctor overseeing the April 29 execution suggested tapping a vein in Lockett's groin area, and said Lockett did not receive a full dose of the three lethal drugs after his vein collapsed.

But forensic pathologist Dr. Joseph Cohen said his preliminary findings indicate that Lockett had healthy veins, and it appears the execution team tried repeatedly to insert an intravenous line without success, including into deep veins on both sides of Lockett's groin.

And:

He said more information was needed to determine why Lockett died. Prison officials have said he died of an apparent heart attack. Results from the initial state autopsy are still pending, however, and toxicology reports haven't been released — so it's unclear how much of the drugs Lockett received.

Additional coverage includes:

"Lethal drugs leaked in botched Oklahoma execution," by Jon Herskovitz and Heide Brandes of Reuters.

The Oklahoman reports, "Botched lethal injection in Oklahoma: Independent autopsy finds IV was not set properly," by Rick Green and Graham Lee Brewer.

"Execution autopsy reveals errors in use of IV," by Ziva Branstetter of the Tulsa World.

"Private Autopsy Blames Oklahoma for Botched Execution," by Michael Muskal at the Los Angeles Times.

"Autopsy on Oklahoma death row inmate shows IV not inserted correctly," by Jessica Glenza for the Guardian.

"Autopsy Contradicts the Official Story," by David Lee for Courthouse News Service.

"Outside autopsy finds failed IV in botched US execution," by AFP, via Rappler.

"Report: Executioner Errors Led to Botched Lethal Injection," by Josh Sanburn for Time.

Earlier coverage of Oklahoma's botched execution begins at the link.

 

Maurice Chammah on the History of Pentobarbital

"The Many Lives of a Death Drug," is the title of Maurice Chammah latest article in Texas Monthly.  Here's the beginning of this must-read:

On April 29 a media frenzy erupted over a botched execution in Oklahoma. The story is now familiar: a doctor administered a three-drug cocktail to convicted murderer Clayton Lockett. He lost consciousness for a few minutes, according to eyewitnesses, then regained it, writhed in apparent pain, and cried out, “Oh, man.” Officials said it was the administration of the drug—not the drug itself—that caused the complication, but nonetheless, the incident turned international attention to the logistics of carrying out the death penalty.

The controversy spilled south to Texas, which has the country’s most active death chamber, where the next execution, of a man named Robert James Campbell, was scheduled for May 13. A federal court stayed Campbell’s execution over questions about his mental faculties, but news outlets around the world had already tied his story to the debate about lethal injection drugs.

The next Texas execution, of a man named Manuel Vasquez, is scheduled for August. He will be given a fatal dose of a single drug, pentobarbital, in a protocol the Texas Department of Criminal Justice has been using since 2012. Death penalty opponents will be looking for evidence that the drug causes Vasquez to feel pain, a violation of the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment, while Texas prison officials, it is safe to presume, will be hoping for a smooth procedure so as to not invite the attention of journalists and activists.

Pentobarbital will take the stage again, and one question above all others will be asked of the drug: Is it a painless way to die?

Earlier coverage of Texas lethal injection issues begins at the link.  Related posts are in the lethal injection category index.

Preliminary Results of Clayton Lockett's Independent Autopsy Released

NBC News posts, "Prisoner in Botched Execution Had Healthy Veins: Pathologist," by Tracy Connor.

The Oklahoma inmate who died during a botched lethal injection has perfectly healthy veins, a pathologist hired by defense lawyers says in a preliminary report.

Dr. Joseph Cohen performed an independent autopsy on Clayton Lockett, whose April 29 execution went so wrong that the White House condemned it.

Lockett, a rapist and murderer, died 43 minutes after the execution began and appeared to regain consciousness and writhe in pain midway through, according to media witnesses.

And:

“The improper placement of the IV used in Mr. Lockett’s execution is just one factor that caused his prolonged and painful death,” Megan McCracken, a lawyer with the Death Penalty Clinic at U.C. Berkeley School of Law, said in a statement.

She said a three-drug protocol being used for the first time in Oklahoma "exacerbated the pain and suffering that Mr. Lockett faced."

"Oklahoma Execution Team Failed to Place IV in Clayton Lockett’s Vein, According to Preliminary Findings of Independent Autopsy," is a news release issued this morning.

The Oklahoma execution team failed to set a properly functioning IV in Clayton Lockett’s femoral vein, according to preliminary findings released today of an independent autopsy conducted by forensic pathologist Dr. Joseph I. Cohen, M.D. The autopsy was performed in Tulsa, Oklahoma on May 14, 2014, following the botched execution of Mr. Lockett in Oklahoma City on April 29, 2014. Dr. Cohen was retained by attorneys for Oklahoma death row prisoners.

The preliminary findings can be accessed at the link.

Despite the report’s findings that Mr. Lockett’s veins, both surface and deep, were in excellent shape “for the purpose of achieving venous access,” the execution team attempted to place the IV for the lethal injection execution into his femoral vein in the groin area, which is riskier, more difficult and more painful to place.  

According to Dr. Cohen’s report, he found “skin punctures on the extremities and right and left femoral areas,” demonstrating that the execution team attempted to set IVs in both arms and both sides of Mr. Lockett’s groin. Dr. Cohen further found superficial and deep hemorrhages “indicative of attempted vascular access” and “the presence of vascular injury indicative of failed vascular catheter access.” The execution team’s attempts to insert the IV perforated the femoral vein.

Contrary to statements by the state, Mr. Lockett’s veins did not collapse or “blow out.” Rather, despite the excellent condition of Mr. Lockett’s veins, the execution team made numerous failed attempts to set an IV, eventually setting an improperly placed and ineffective IV in Mr. Lockett’s femoral vein. Dr. Cohen also notes the “unlikelihood” that dehydration could have played a role in compromising venous access.

There are serious questions about the training of the personnel who performed the execution. The Department of Corrections timeline states that the IV was set by a phlebotomist, which was confirmed by the Governor’s office, but when Tulsa World questioned the assertions, both state agencies reversed their positions and said it was an EMT, whose name has not been revealed.  Oklahoma’s execution protocol allows for a central line, such as an IV to a femoral vein, only if set by a physician, not a phlebotomist.

“The improper placement of the IV used in Mr. Lockett’s execution is just one factor that caused his prolonged and painful death,” said Megan McCracken, an attorney with the Death Penalty Clinic at U.C. Berkeley School of Law. “The three-drug protocol that was used exacerbated the pain and suffering that Mr. Lockett faced by needlessly paralyzing him and subjecting him to the pain of potassium chloride. Moreover, the state had no plan for contingencies in the event that the execution did not go as planned, as clearly happened here.”

“Lack of transparency is a pervasive problem with execution procedures,” Ms. McCracken commented. “During Mr. Lockett’s execution, the Department of Corrections closed the blinds to the execution chamber so that the witnesses and press could not see what was happening for the 24 minutes leading up to the announcement that Mr. Lockett had died. Nothing is known about what happened during this timeframe, and it is one of many questions Dr. Cohen seeks answers to in order to complete his independent autopsy.”

The additional information that Dr. Cohen seeks includes:

•    Documentation of tests and procedures performed by the State of Oklahoma’s Chief Medical Examiner’s office;
•    Autopsy, toxicology, histology and other reports generated by the Dallas County Medical Examiner’s office;
•    Oklahoma Department of Corrections’ policies and procedures pertaining to lethal injection executions;
•    Documentation pertaining to Mr. Lockett’s execution;
•       Mr. Lockett’s complete medical records and prison records;
•    Information about cell extraction, including use of physical restraint or use of electrical conductive devices.
•    Occurrence and treatment of injuries to Mr. Lockett prior to execution;
•    Records pertaining to the transport and storage of Mr. Lockett’s body following the execution.

“Dr. Cohen has begun a critically important inquiry into the botched execution of Clayton Lockett,” says Dr. Mark Heath, Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology at Columbia University and expert in lethal injection executions. “However, to complete this inquiry, Dr. Cohen will need the state to provide extensive additional information beyond what the body itself revealed. I hope that Oklahoma provides everything he asks for so that we can all understand what went so terribly wrong in Mr. Lockett’s execution.”

More information about Dr. Cohen can be accessed at the link.

Earlier coverage of Oklahoma's botched execution begins at the link.

Clayton Lockett's Autopsy

Today's Tulsa World reports, "Executed killer Clayton Lockett's body returned without heart; officials mum on autopsy," by Ziva Branstetter.

The Oklahoma Medical Examiner’s Office will ultimately decide what killed an inmate during a botched execution, a spokeswoman told the Tulsa World.

Amy Elliott, a spokeswoman for the Medical Examiner’s Office, said Clayton Lockett’s body has been returned to his family and that a report on his death is expected “very soon.”

The day after Lockett’s execution on April 29, Gov. Mary Fallin ordered his body sent to the Dallas County Medical Examiner’s Office in Texas for an independent autopsy.

However, Elliott said, the Texas agency’s report will be a recommendation, not the final determination of what killed Lockett. She said a forensic pathologist from the Oklahoma Medical Examiner’s Office will review the report when it arrives.

And:

Elliott said Lockett’s body was returned to the medical examiner’s Tulsa office and released to his family on May 13. The Dallas County Medical Examiner’s Office kept Lockett’s heart and larynx in case further testing is needed, which Elliott said is standard procedure.

“It allows further testing but it also allows the family to go ahead and bury or cremate their loved ones,” she said.

The family is also having a second autopsy done on Lockett’s body, his attorney has said.

"Oklahoma inmate's body returned without heart," is the AP report filed by Sean Murphy.  It's via Yahoo News.

The body of an Oklahoma inmate who died after a botched execution of what corrections officials have said was an apparent heart attack was returned from an independent autopsy without the heart or larynx, a state medical official said Monday.

The Dallas County Medical Examiner's Office, which is conducting an independent autopsy on the body of inmate Clayton Lockett, retained the body parts, a practice that is not uncommon, said Amy Elliott, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Medical Examiner's Office.

"Oklahoma law reads that the Office of the State Medical Examiner can retain any kind of tissue or samples indefinitely," Elliott said. "And my understanding is it can be the same in Texas."

Dallas County officials did not immediately return messages Monday.

David Autry, Lockett's attorney, said a private doctor is working to complete a second autopsy and has asked Dallas County to preserve all evidence in the case, including the heart and larynx.

"I assume they retained those for additional testing, but we've asked them to preserve all the evidence," Autry said.

Earlier coverage of Oklahoma's botched execution begins at the link.

Midazolam Under the Microscope

"Lethal-Injection Drug Is Scrutinized," is by Ashby Jones for the Wall Street Journal.  Here's the beginning:

Anesthesiologists say midazolam works like a dream. A few milligrams of the sedative calms patients' preoperative anxiety, while leaving them alert enough to talk with doctors and nurses before the more potent drugs kick in.

Reviews of its newer role as part of states' lethal-injection protocols aren't as unanimous.

The drug, made by several companies in the U.S., has come into the spotlight with April's high-profile botched execution in Oklahoma, the first in that state to use midazolam. State officials injected Clayton Lockett, convicted of kidnapping and murdering a 19-year-old woman, with 100 milligrams of midazolam to render him unconscious. They then injected another drug to paralyze him and a third to stop his heart.

And:

There is little agreement about how much to use in executions. Florida uses 500 milligrams, while Oklahoma used 100 milligrams on Mr. Lockett. Ohio used only 10 milligrams of midazolam in a January execution, but in April announced that it would change to 50 milligrams.

None of the three states would comment on why they chose midazolam or how they settled on dosages.

"It's uncharted territory," said David Waisel, an anesthesiologist at Boston Children's Hospital who has testified on behalf of death-row inmates. "States literally have no idea what they're doing to these people."

Related posts are in the lethal injection category index.

Mississippi Forensics Questioned

"New case again demonstrates duplicity of embattled Mississippi medical examiner," is Radley Balko's post at the Washington Post.  It's a must-read.  Here's the beginning:

In February, I wrote about a Fifth Circuit decision rejecting the claims of a defendant who was convicted based on improbable testimony from the controversial medical examiner Steven Hayne. Over the course of about two decades, Hayne nearly monopolized Mississippi’s criminal autopsy referrals, performing 1,500-1,800 autopsies per year all by himself. Most of these were done for the state’s prosecutors. Hayne’s testimony was responsible for several convictions that later resulted in acquittals after a new trial, dismissed charges, or DNA exonorations.

I’ve been covering this scandal for the better part of a decade now. Hayne has been found to have given testimony completely unsupported by science, regularly worked with known charlatans like the discredited “bite mark expert” Michael West, and has been sharply criticized by colleagues for his improbable workload, sloppy practices, and dubious testimony. He has also been shown to have perjured himself about his qualifications. Despite all of this, and despite the fact that there are literally thousands of people in prison due in part or mostly to Hayne’s autopsies and testimony, neither state nor federal courts have shown any interest in determining just how much damage Hayne may have done to the criminal justice system of Mississippi (and to a lesser extent Louisiana). The Mississippi legislature hasn’t shown much interest. And state attorney general Jim Hood continues to defend Hayne. (Hood often used Hayne during his time as a district attorney.)

Related posts are in the forensics category index.

Dr. Chapman Speaks

NPR posts, "The Executioner's Lament," by Laura Sullivan.  There is audio at the link.  Here's the beginning:

In 1977, death row inmate Gary Mark Gilmore chose to be executed by a firing squad. Gilmore was strapped to a chair at the Utah State Prison, and five officers shot him.

The media circus that ensued prompted a group of lawmakers in nearby Oklahoma to wonder if there might be a better way to handle executions. They approached Dr. Jay Chapman, the state medical examiner at the time, who proposed using three drugs, based loosely on anesthesia procedures at the time: one drug to knock out the inmates, one to relax or paralyze them, and a final drug that would stop their hearts.

The three-drug execution cocktail, which later became known as Chapman's Protocol, has been the preferred method across the U.S. ever since.

But last week's botched execution — in the same state where the technique was developed — has raised questions about execution norms. Although the drugs and the question of whether they work are at the center of the debate, the reality is executions are carried out by people, and people sometimes make mistakes.

Many also struggle with their involvement for years afterward.

Ziva Branstetter writes, "'Father of lethal injection' talks about history, his legacy to Oklahoma," for the Tulsa World.

Jay Chapman never wanted to be known for creating the lethal-drug cocktail first approved in Oklahoma and copied nationwide.

Chapman is proud of his role in creating Oklahoma's first medical examiner system, and he'd rather talk about that. During 11 years as the state's first chief medical examiner, he moved from performing autopsies in the bedroom of an old Oklahoma City house to opening two modern facilities equipped with morgues.

But he knows that's not what people really want to hear about, at least not right now, after the botched execution of Clayton Lockett at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary on April 29 made international headlines and sparked a national debate.

Readers may also want to read about the late Oklahoma legislator, "Bill Wiseman Dies in Plane Crash," and "Additional Information on Bill Wiseman."

Earlier coverage from Oklahoma begins at the link.

Dcotors & Executions

"The role of doctors in executions questioned," is the AP report, via the Columbia Tribune.  Here's an extended excerpt:

Some of the nation's 32 death penalty states mandate doctor participation — including Oklahoma — but critics say what happened there proves a doctor's presence can't guarantee the process will go smoothly.

"Physicians have an ethical and moral responsibility to remain as far from the execution chamber as possible," said Jonathan Weisbuch of Phoenix, a death penalty opponent. He calls what happened in Oklahoma torture. "How dare they experiment on a living human being," Weisbuch said.

In Oklahoma on Tuesday, the execution team struggled to find a suitable vein for injecting the lethal drugs and a vein collapse prevented the drugs from working properly. Clayton Lockett, a convicted murderer, writhed before the execution was called off. He died later of an apparent heart attack. According to witnesses and a letter from the state's prisons chief, a physician checked the IV line, checked to see if Lockett was unconscious and reported that not enough drugs had been given to kill him — all violations of the American Medical Association's ethics policy.

The AMA says it's unethical for doctors to be involved except in a peripheral way. That's one reason why the number and identities of physicians who do participate are shrouded in secrecy. Ardis Hoven, the AMA's president, issued a statement Friday regarding Lockett's execution.

"No matter how one feels about capital punishment, it is disquieting for physicians to act as agents of the state in the assisting, supervising or contributing to a legally authorized execution," Hoven said. "The American Medical Association is troubled by continuous refusal of states to acknowledge the ethical obligations of physicians that strictly prohibit involvement in capital punishment."

Weisbuch says the Oklahoma case underscores why an execution moratorium is needed. He plans to ask the AMA to lobby for a ban at the group's policymaking meeting next month in Chicago. Similar attempts have failed. But whether Lockett's execution, drug shortages and concerns about their effectiveness will sway the AMA this time remain to be seen.

NPR's Weekend Edition posts, "Should Doctors Participate In Executions?" The segment is hosted by Rachel Martin, and features an interview with Ty Alper of the University of California Berkeley School of Law.  There is audio at the link.

ALPER: Well, most medical associations - the American Medical Association and state-based medical associations have ethical guidelines that prohibit the participation of doctors in executions. But it's important to keep in mind that those are just the guidelines of those medical associations. And the majority of doctors are not members of those associations. So the guidelines don't have any enforcement teeth.

MARTIN: Some in the medical community say that doctors who participate in state executions should actually lose their licenses. This past weekend, a man named Sidney Wolfe, physician and consumer advocate, said, quote, "it's reprehensible when a physician deliberately participates in any way in the intentional killing of another human being by involvement in execution." You yourself oppose the death penalty. Do you agree with him?

ALPER: I don't agree with him. I think - I am opposed to the death penalty, And I don't think that we should be executing people. But if we are and particularly if we're going to do it in by way of procedures that are shrouded in secrecy, that use experimental combinations of drugs that have never been used before, then we need to have competent medical personnel involved.

And I think that courts should require that qualified competent medical personnel participate. That doesn't mean that any particular doctor should be forced to participate in an execution. But if a person is going to be executed, there should be qualified people on hand.

Time posts, "The Slippery Slope From Medicine to Lethal Injection," by Dr. Joel B. Zivot.  He's an anesthesiologist and medical director of the Cardio-Thoracic and Vascular Intensive Care Unit at Emory University Hospital.

To suggest that Lockett’s execution was “botched” raises an ethical question for physicians who are asked how it can be improved. Doctors swear an oath, the Hippocratic Oath, that they are concerned with the relief of suffering in others. States that utilize lethal injection appeal to a doctor’s oath to lend assistance during execution in order to reduce suffering, but that’s a suspect and misplaced appeal. Inmates who are being executed are not patients, and yet it seems that lethal injection attempts to turn them into such. But if Lockett were my patient, my duty would be to cure his sickness and reduce his suffering. At no time would it be to seek his death over his life, even if he were dying from a terminal illness.

And:

The last drug given was potassium chloride. In sufficient quantities, this drug will stop the heart, though, again, not in an instant and not without pain. Oklahoma corrections claimed that Lockett died of a “massive heart attack.” Pending autopsy, that is mere speculation. My view, based on a review of events as best can be determined, was that Oklahoma executed Lockett by subjecting him to a painful and terrifying death by suffocation.

Earlier coverage from Oklahoma begins with the preceding post.  Related posts are in the physician category index.

Dr. David Waisel on Oklahoma's Execution

"Medical expert: Inmate was still conscious and experienced painful execution," is by Ziva Branstetter of the Tulsa World.

Dr. David Waisel associate professor of anesthesiology at Harvard Medical School, said midazolam is typically used in small doses to patients before surgery. Waisel, who has testified or consulted in about eight death penalty cases, said he is not aware of another execution using in the same three-drug combination used by Oklahoma on Tuesday.

And:

Waisel said people who are unconscious are not capable of speaking and bodily movements. Waisel said given the timeline and drugs used, "it is possible that he received enough midazolam to make him sleepy, but not the full intended dose. He said if the second and third drugs were administered directly to Lockett's blood stream through a vein "he would have died right away."

"What I suspect happened was that the two drugs were not injected into the vein, but were injected in the soft tissue around the vein,” he said. “... That can be very painful, and would be consistent with the reaction being reported."

Waisel said because so many minutes had elapsed between administering of the midazolam and Lockett's violent reaction, "clearly this sounds like a new injection of something that was very painful.

Earlier coverage from Oklahoma begins with the preceding post.

Ohio Changing LI Drug Quantity

"Ohio to increase lethal injection drug dosages," is the AP report.  It's also available from USA Today.

Ohio said Monday it's boosting the dosages of its lethal injection drugs even as it stands by the January execution of an inmate who made snorting and gasping sounds that led to a civil rights lawsuit by his family and calls for a moratorium.

The state's new policy considerably increases the amount of the sedative used in its two-drug combination and raises the amount of the painkiller, which are injected simultaneously, according to a court filing. The state said it was making the changes "to allay any remaining concerns" after the last execution.

The Department of Rehabilitation and Correction said its review of the Jan. 16 execution of Dennis McGuire determined he was asleep and unconscious a few minutes after the drugs were administered and his execution was conducted in a constitutional manner.

And:

Lawyers challenging the constitutionality of Ohio's two-drug method, the only such procedure in the country, also criticized the report.

The state's execution policy calls for it to use a specialty dose of the powerful sedative pentobarbital, made by non-federally regulated pharmacies, as its first choice. If that can't be obtained, as has happened twice, it goes to a backup method of midazolam, a sedative, and hydromorphone, a painkiller.

The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation & Correction report is available in Adobe .pdf format, via the Columbus Dispatch.

The Toledo Blade reports, "Ohio to keep execution drugs, but raise dosages," by Jim Provance.

The state of Ohio on Monday insisted the process used to execute Dennis McGuire four months ago was “humane and constitutional,” but it nevertheless plans to increase the dosage of its unique two-drug regimen for future executions.

Starting with the next lethal injection set for Arthur Tyler of Cuyahoga County on May 28, the intravenous dosage of midazolam, a sedative, will be increased five times while the dose of hydromorphone, a potent painkiller, will be increased by 20 percent, both to 50 milligrams.

And:

Jon Paul Rion, a Dayton attorney representing the McGuire family, said the review’s findings alter nothing with the lawsuit pending in U.S. District Court.

“The report clearly ignores the clear physical data presented in this case,” Mr. Rion said. “McGuire was clenching his fists, arching his back, and gasping for air, and none of that information is in the report. … Arching of the back and clenching of fists are clearly indications of consciousness.

“One of the most incredible parts of the state’s action in McGuire’s case is they used a human as an experiment.”

"Ohio Ups Lethal-Injection Dosages After Controversial Execution," is by Josh Sanburn for Time.

The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (DRC) announced on Monday it would increase the dosage of sedative midazolam from 10 mg to 50 mg while upping the dosage of hydromorphone, which is used to stop one’s breathing, from 40 mg to 50 mg. The change follows the January execution of Dennis McGuire, who reportedly made snorting and snoring noises during the 25-minute process.

But even though DRC said it would alter its lethal-injection cocktail, the review determined that McGuire’s execution was “conducted in a constitutional manner” consistent with state policy after speaking with prison officials, family members and media representatives who witnessed the execution.

“DRC remains confident that its current drug regimen is sufficient to conduct a humane and constitutional execution, but also sees no reason not to increase the dosage levels to reaffirm that the drugs will, without doubt, cause profound general anesthetic and ventilatory-depressant effects,” the report says.

David Lubarsky, a University of Miami anesthesiologist who studies lethal injection, says the change in dosage is an admission that the McGuire execution did not go as planned.

“This is just proof that they don’t know what they’re doing,” Lubarsky says. “What states like Ohio are doing has never been vetted, never been tested.”

"Inmate did not experience pain during execution, report says," is by Alan Johnson of the Columbus Dispatch.

The condemned man’s attorneys warned in advance that using the two drugs might result in “air hunger” as his body struggled in the final death gasps. State officials dismissed that claim at the time and in yesterday’s report.

The state switched to the two drugs for intravenous injection for McGuire’s execution because pentobarbital, the single drug used before, is no longer available because manufacturers will not sell it for use in executions. There have been numerous other changes in the past few years, mostly because of drug shortages.

Ohioans to Stop Executions issued a statement in response to the state report.

“Changing the execution protocol seven times in five years shows the inability of the death-penalty system to function at the most basic level,” said Kevin Werner, executive director. “ These types of problems are precisely why the Supreme Court and State Bar Association made more than 50 recommendations to improve the death-penalty system.”

NPR posts, "Ohio Will Increase Dosage Of Drugs In Lethal Injection," by Eyder Peralta.

Allen L. Bohnert, the assistant federal public defender who represented Dennis McGuire, said he was "shocked" that Ohio was experimenting with a "another new, untested execution protocol," especially because the next execution is scheduled for May.

Bohnert added:

"The courts must be allowed sufficient time to consider this new experimental execution method, especially when ODRC's assurances to the courts the last time were not accurate. There should be no further executions at least until the courts have had a fair opportunity to assess this latest intended experiment.

"We are also very concerned that the official report of the 'investigation' into the execution of Dennis McGuire does not appear to fit with accounts of the execution provided by witnesses that are not employed by ODRC. It is difficult to reconcile the vivid descriptions of how Dennis McGuire was killed that were provided by media and other non-ODRC employees with the sanitized version offered in the official ODRC report. The truth of the matter is that everything our expert, Dr. Waisel, testified would happen to McGuire did, in fact, occur, except that McGuire suffocated to death for much longer than 5 minutes. The predictions by ODRC's expert, Dr. Dershwitz, on the other hand, were proven wrong, as they have been numerous times before. That ODRC still chooses to rely on advice from Dr. Dershwitz, an expert who has been wrong so frequently, further undermines any credibility of the official report."

"Prison officials: Ohio inmate's execution was humane," is by Marc Kovac of the Dix News Capital Bureau, via the Wooten Daily Record.

In a final report issued late Monday afternoon on the two-drug lethal injection of Dennis McGuire, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction determined the inmate's execution "was conducted in a constitutional manner" consistent with state policy.

Officials also said they would increase the dosage of the two drugs used to put Ohio inmates to death.

"After the review, the department remains confident that it conducted the execution in a humane, constitutional way and that the inmate was completely unconscious and felt no pain," prisons spokeswoman JoEllen Smith said in a released statement. "After speaking with the department's medical expert, examining other states' practices and considering the recommendations of the inmate's medical expert, the department finds no harm in increasing the dosage levels of its drugs and has notified Judge Frost of this revision."

Earlier coverage of Dennis McGuire's execution begins at the link.  More recent, unrelated, news from Ohio is also available.  Ohio officials are also considering clemency for Arthur Tyler, who has the May execution date noted in some articles.

The Myth of the Compassionate Execution

That's the title of an editorial published in the May edition of Scientific American.  The web edition is titled, "Let’s Stop Pretending the Death Penalty Is a Medical Procedure."

Yet even if executions are not medical, they can affect medicine. Supplies of propofol, a widely used anesthetic, came close to being choked off as a result of Missouri's plan to use the drug for executions. The state corrections department placed an order for propofol from the U.S. distributor of a German drug manufacturer. The distributor sent 20 vials of the drug in violation of its agreement with the manufacturer, a mistake that the distributor quickly caught. As the company tried in vain to get the state to return the drug, the manufacturer suspended new orders. The manufacturer feared that if the drug was used for lethal injection, E.U. regulators would ban all exports of propofol to the U.S. “Please, Please, Please HELP,” wrote a vice president at the distributor to the director of the Missouri corrections department. “This system failure—a mistake—1 carton of 20 vials—is going to affect thousands of Americans.”

This was a vast underestimate. Propofol is the most popular anesthetic in the U.S. It is used in some 50 million cases a year—everything from colonoscopies to cesareans to open-heart surgeries—and nearly 90 percent of the propofol used in the U.S. comes from the E.U. After 11 months, Missouri relented and agreed to return the drug.

Such incidents illustrate how the death penalty can harm ordinary citizens.

Related posts are in the lethal injection and physician category indexes.

News From Florida

"Florida’s gruesome execution theater," is by Liliana Segura at the Washington Post.  Here's the beginning:

In the decades he spent filing stories from Jacksonville after visits to Florida’s execution chamber, former AP reporter Ron Word saw a lot that still lingers in the back of his mind. There are the images from the old days of the electric chair: The executioner’s black hood, only visible through a slit in the wall; or the electrician’s thick rubber gloves, worn in the event of mechanical problems. And there are the dramatic episodes: the execution of Ted Bundy; electrocutions in which “there were flames coming off the inmates’ heads”; the botched, bloody death of Allen Lee “Tiny” Davis in 1999, in a special electric chair built for his 344-pound body, then never used again.

There were the times the Florida Department of Corrections (DOC) tried to alter the narrative. Once, Word remembers, in the early days of lethal injection, he got a call from prison officials telling him, “You’re gonna’ have to change the times in your story. They don’t agree with our times.” Word refused. Another time, after the agonizing 34-minute death of Angel Diaz — executioners pushed the IV needles into his flesh instead of his veins — Word says the DOC “pretty much lied to us that night.” Prison officials claimed Diaz had some sort of liver problem, “but as it turned out there was nothing wrong with his liver. It was because of the procedure they used.”

That happened around Christmas of 2006. Afterward, Florida temporarily halted executions and revised its protocol. And that’s when they brought in the moon suits.

“At all Florida lethal injections, a man in a purple moon suit leans over the dying inmate to listen for a heartbeat and feel for a pulse,” Word reported in the summer of 2007. “After a few seconds, he nods, and the witnesses are informed that the death sentence has been duly carried out. The man is a doctor, and the gear shields his identity — not just from the prisoner’s family and friends, but from the American Medical Association, whose code of ethics bars members from participating in executions.”

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports, "Broward killer set for execution at 6 p.m.," by Brittany Wallma.

Broward killer Robert Lavern Henry, who viciously beat and burned his co-workers in order to steal $1,269.26, is scheduled to be put to death Thursday.

"Executions leave blood on Scott’s hands," is Justin Jones' column in today's Independent Florida Alligator.

Executions are slowing around the country, but leave it to Florida to stand out in the worst way.

Our lovely governor, Rick Scott, has executed more people in a single term than any other modern governor of Florida, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

Since 1976, Florida has ranked fourth in the country for the number of executions. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, Florida is leading the way in 2014 with three government-sanctioned murders under its belt — more than any other state.

Earlier coverage from Florida begins at the link.

A Shady Deal in Georgia?

"Did lethal injection doctor get a special deal?" is by Rhonda Cook in today's Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

A physician with a years-long relationship with the Georgia Department of Corrections has bought a 700-bed former prison for $50,000 — half its appraised value — and stands to make millions running it as a nursing home for old and sick parolees.

At least one competing business complains that the state gave Dr. Carlo Musso, who has conducted its executions, a sweetheart deal and did not give others a realistic shot at the property.

The sale was completed on Thursday. But documents obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution show the state began talking about the property with Musso exclusively, at least three years ago, long before advertising it for sale. DOC’s talks with Musso then were about leasing the now closed Bostick State Prison in a deal that would have netted the state almost $537,000 a year in rent. The state would have also invested roughly $8 million in renovations, $2 million of it in prison labor.

Fast forward to last summer, and Musso submitted the lone bid to buy the property, on the grounds of the now closed Central State Hospital, for little more than what a month’s rent would have been under the lease deal that had been discussed.

Creative Loafing Atlanta references the Journal-Constitution enterprise reporting in, "Georgia's DOC accused of giving former lethal injection doctor special treatment in property deal," by Max Blau.

Questions are being raised over whether Dr. Carlo Musso, a former lethal injection doctor for the Georgia Department of Corrections, received special treatment in purchasing a 700-bed prison for half of its estimated value. "How much state government assistance should a private citizen get in launching a private for-profit business?" Sara Totonchi, executive director of the Southern Center for Human Rights, told the AJC. "Carlo Musso has found a cash cow in Corrections."

Earlier coverage from Georgia begins at the link.

Continuing Coverage of the Ohio Botch

"Local Anesthesiologist On Ohio Lethal Injection Controversy," at WGBH-TV News.  There is video at the link.

It’s not up for debate in Massachusetts, since the death penalty was declared unconstitutional in 1982, but discussions about capital punishment are taking place across the nation. 

Central to that dialogue is the execution of Dennis McGuire in Ohio. The convicted murderer was the first American inmate put to death using a new combination of lethal drugs. His family is now suing the state, calling the effects of the injection “cruel and unusual.”  

Dr. David Waisel is an anesthesiologist at Boston Children's Hospital and served as an expert witness on lethal injection in the Dennis McGuire case.

"Family of executed Ohio inmate file lawsuit to ban repeat of lethal injection," is AP coverage, via the Guardian.

The prolonged execution of an inmate in Ohio during which he repeatedly gasped and snorted amounted to cruel and unusual punishment which should not be allowed to happen again, the inmate's family said in a federal lawsuit.

The lawsuit, filed late on Friday, also alleges the drug maker that produced the medications used in the lethal injection illegally allowed them to be used for an execution and should be prohibited from making them available for capital punishment.

Dennis McGuire "repeated cycles of snorting, gurgling and arching his back, appearing to writhe in pain," the lawsuit said. "It looked and sounded as though he was suffocating."

McGuire's execution lasted 26 minutes, the longest since the state resumed putting inmates to death in 1999, according to an Associated Press analysis of all 53 execution logs maintained by the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.

The Colubmus Dispatch reports, "Lawsuit follows troubled lethal injection," by Alan Johnson.

A federal lawsuit filed on behalf of the children of Dennis McGuire argues that his execution using two drugs never intended to kill people violated his constitutional rights — and U.S. Food and Drug Administration rules.

The suit, filed yesterday on behalf of Amber and Dennis McGuire, goes after not only state prison officials and the execution team, but also Hospira Inc., the Chicago company that manufactured the drugs used in the lethal injection given to McGuire on Jan. 16. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Columbus.

Dayton attorney Jon Paul Rion argues in the suit that McGuire’s execution was “cruel and unusual” punishment because of how he gasped, snorted, choked and clenched his fists during the process, which lasted about 25 minutes in total. The suit argues that that violated the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, as well as his 14th Amendment right to due process.

“Executing a human being with a mixture of clinically untested drugs that cause the body to consciously writhe in pain for 25 minutes constitutes cruel and unusual punishment,” the suit states. “Killing a human being in the undignified manned described above, in the presence of their family and other witnesses, creates a spectacle and constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.”

Earlier coverage of the Ohio botch begins at the link.

Continuing News Coverage From Ohio

"Execution spurs calls to suspend death penalty," is by Alan Johnson in today's Columbus Dispatch.

The troubled execution of convicted killer Dennis McGuire last week has prompted the American Civil Liberties Union and some state legislators to seek a moratorium on Ohio’s use of the death penalty.

And:

Dr. David Waisel, an anesthesiologist and professor at Harvard Medical School, essentially predicted what would happen to McGuire in testimony offered by McGuire’s defense team at a hearing before the execution. He said McGuire would be “awake and actively conscious for up to five minutes” and was at “substantial, objectively intolerable risk for experiencing the agony and horrifying sensation of being unable to breathe for a relevant time, as he slowly suffocates to death.”

Officials of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction and Gov. John Kasich have not commented.

The ACLU of Ohio wrote Kasich, urging him to “declare an immediate halt to executions in Ohio.”

“This is not about Dennis McGuire, his terrible crimes, or the crimes of others who await execution on Death Row,” the letter from ACLU Executive Director Christine Link and President Jack Guttenberg said. “It is about our duty as a society that sits in judgment of those who are convicted of crimes to treat them humanely and ensure their punishment does not violate the Constitution.”

"McGuire execution sparks anti-death penalty bills in Ohio," is the CBS News post.

Democrats state legislators are pushing for changes regarding the death penalty in Ohio after inmate Dennis McGuire gasped and convulsed violently during his execution last week which involved the use of a two-drug method for the first time in the United States.  

State Sen. Edna Brown has called for an immediate suspension of the death penalty in the state and said she plans to introduce legislation to abolish it altogether, reports Cleveland.com.

State Rep. Bob Hagan also recently announced his plan to introduce a bill that would require the governor and the state’s prisons chief to be present during all future executions in Ohio, according to the news site.

Both bills came on the heels of McGuire’s Jan. 16 execution. The 53-year-old McGuire, who was sentenced to death for raping and fatally stabbing a 22-year-old pregnant woman to death in 1989, took 26 minutes to die – making it the longest execution of the 53 carried out in Ohio since capital punishment resumed there 15 years ago, according to an Associated Press analysis.

"Shortage of lethal drugs, 'ugly' Ohio execution fuels battle over death penalty," is by Joseph Weber with material from Associated Press at Fox News.

A shortage of the lethal drugs used to administer the death penalty has re-ignited a battle over capital punishment which has pushed a few states to weigh execution alternatives -- even firing squads. 

The battle came to a head last week when Ohio used a new two-drug cocktail to execute an inmate, who had been convicted of raping and murdering a pregnant woman. The execution, though, took roughly 26 minutes and raised concerns about the ability of states to perform executions in a constitutional manner. 

While some death penalty foes continue to ramp up their opposition, other states are weighing alternative methods -- even firing squads -- to carry out lethal punishment. 

Right now, 32 states allow for lethal injections or other means of capital punishment. But when European pharmaceutical companies last year stopped selling the three-drug mix used for injections on ethical grounds, states began weighing their options.

Aljazeera America posts, "Local ACLU chapter in Ohio calls on governor to halt executions while Montana group is suing over protocol."

Prison authorities in two states are facing increased pressure to halt executions immediately after a controversial execution last week using a previously untested drug mix left a condemned man, Dennis McGuire, gasping and snorting for close to half an hour.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) wrote to Ohio's governor, John Kasich, Sunday urging him to use his executive authority ahead of five scheduled executions in 2014 after McGuire's execution on Thursday.

It took McGuire 26 minutes to die after the chemicals — intravenous doses of the sedative midazolam and the painkiller hydromorphone — began flowing into his body. McGuire was sentenced to die for raping and stabbing a pregnant newlywed to death in 1989, and his death was the longest execution of the 53 carried out in Ohio since capital punishment resumed 15 years ago.

Meanwhile, another group, the ACLU of Montana, is now suing Montana overs its execution method, which last year changed from a combination of three drugs to two. 

Though the drugs used in the Ohio execution are different from the ones called for in Montana's execution protocol, critics say the Ohio case illustrates the dangers of using untested drug combinations.

Earlier news coverage from the MLK holiday weekend includes:

"After a Prolonged Execution in Ohio, Questions Over ‘Cruel and Unusual’," by Erica Goode in the New York Times.

As the lethal drugs flowed into his veins in the Ohio death chamber, Dennis B. McGuire at first “went unconscious” and his body was still, his daughter, Amber McGuire, said Friday.

But a few minutes later, she said, she was horrified to see her father struggling, his stomach heaving, a fist clenching.

“He started making all these horrible, horrible noises, and at that point, that’s when I covered my eyes and my ears,” said Ms. McGuire, who watched the execution on Thursday at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility, near Lucasville. “He was suffering.”

Mr. McGuire’s execution, conducted with a new and untested combination of drugs, took about 25 minutes from the time the drugs were started to the time death was declared. The process, several witnesses said, was accompanied by movement and gasping, snorting and choking sounds.

"Family, experts: Ohio execution snafu points to flaws in lethal injection," by Tom Watkins at CNN.

No one may ever know for sure whether Ohio's execution of Dennis McGuire -- in a procedure during which he reportedly gasped, snorted and struggled -- was inhumane, but his family and medical and legal experts said Friday the ordeal points out fundamental flaws in the use of lethal injection.

"Prolonged execution renews debate over death by lethal injection," is Los Angeles Times coverage by Molly Hennessy-Fiske.

A few minutes before McGuire was put to death, Ohio's prison director, Gary Mohr, said he believed the state's planning would produce "a humane, dignified execution" consistent with the law. In pressing for the execution, state Assistant Atty. Gen. Thomas Madden had argued that condemned prisoners were "not entitled to a pain-free execution."

U.S. District Judge Gregory Frost sided with the state, but at the request of McGuire's lawyers, ordered officials to photograph and preserve drug vials, packaging and syringes.

Ohio and other states have been forced in recent years to use a new mix of drugs and reconsider lethal injection practices after manufacturers, under pressure from death penalty opponents, limited the distribution of drugs previously used in executions, prompting shortages.

"Unclear Future For Executions After Inmate's Slow Death," is an AP report filed by Andrew Welsh-Huggins and Kantele Franko.  It's via Huffington Post.

Whether McGuire felt any pain was unclear. His death — unconsciousness, followed by apparent obstructed breathing — followed the prediction of one state expert.

The question may center on states' tolerance for a constitutional method that is difficult to observe, said Doug Berman, an Ohio State University law professor and death penalty expert.

"How much will Ohio care, how much will the rest of the country care, that it seems that what we now have discovered is Ohio is using a method that gets the job done, but looks ugly," Berman said. "We don't know if it actually was ugly. We just know that it looked ugly."

States are in a bind for two main reasons: European companies have cut off supplies of certain execution drugs because of death-penalty opposition overseas. And states can't simply switch to other chemicals without triggering legal challenges from defense attorneys.

"There's only so many times you can say we're going to try a new method, or try something different, where at this point it's just going to invite a lot of skepticism," said Fordham University law professor and lethal injection expert Deborah Denno.

"Records show execution was longest for Ohio," is another AP report, also by Welsh-Huggins and Franko, via the Cherokee Tribune.

A convicted killer took 26 minutes to die during an execution in which he gasped repeatedly — the longest execution in Ohio since the state resumed capital punishment 15 years ago, records show.

Earlier coverage of the Ohio execution of Dennis McGuire begins with the preceding post.  Analysis and commentary in the next post, followed by more lethal injection news coverage from other jurisdictions.

Additional Coverage of Ohio's Botched Execution

"Ohio Execution Using Untested Drug Cocktail Renews the Debate Over Lethal Injections," is by Rick Lyman at the New York Times.

Dennis McGuire took 15 minutes to die by lethal injection Thursday morning at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville for the 1989 rape and murder of a 22-year-old pregnant woman named Joy Stewart.

Eyewitness accounts differ slightly on how much Mr. McGuire, 53, struggled and gasped in those final minutes. But because the execution took unusually long and because Ohio was using a new, untested cocktail of drugs in the procedure, the episode has reignited debate over lethal injection.

States have been scrambling in recent years to come up with a new formula for executions after their stockpiles were depleted or expired when European manufacturers of such previously used drugs as pentobarbital and sodium thiopental stopped selling them for use in executions. No consensus has formed on what available drugs should be used.

Mr. McGuire was given midazolam, a sedative, and hydromorphone, a powerful analgesic derived from morphine, just before 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, the first time that any state has used that combination. The drugs were selected by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction after the state’s supply of pentobarbital expired in 2009, said JoEllen Smith, the department’s spokeswoman. A federal court had approved their use, she said.

The Columbus Dispatch reports, "Family to file lawsuit after troubled execution."  It's by Alan Johnson, who was a media witness of the execution.  There is video at the link.

The family of Dennis McGuire will file a federal lawsuit against the state of Ohio over his troubled execution yesterday.

Amber and Dennis McGuire, the executed man’s children, scheduled a press conference this morning in Dayton to announce their intention to go to court. The suit will claim McGuire’s 8th Amendment rights under the U.S. Constitution to avoid “cruel and unusual punishment” were violated when he gasped for air, choked and struggled against his restraints for about 10 minutes before being declared dead at 10:53 a.m.

“Shortly after the warden buttoned his jacket to signal the start of the execution, my dad began gasping and struggling to breathe,” Amber McGuire said in a statement. “I watched his stomach heave. I watched him try to sit up against the straps on the gurney. I watched him repeatedly clench his fist. It appeared to me he was fighting for his life but suffocating.”

McGuire’s children were witnesses at his lethal injection at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility near Dayton.

"Dennis McGuire's Daughter Says Dad's Execution Was 'Torture'," is the latest AP report filed by Andrew Welsh-Huggins and Kantele Franko.  It's via Huffington Post.

An Ohio inmate put to death for murder was tortured by his unusually slow execution, the man's daughter said Friday as she announced plans to file a lawsuit over her father's death.

Dennis McGuire's daughter, Amber, referred to the "agony and terror" of watching her father as he appeared to gasp in his final moments Thursday — using the same words the condemned man's attorneys used in trying to stop his execution using a previously untried method of lethal injection.

"It was the most awful moment in my life to witness my dad's execution," she said in a statement ahead of the news conference. "I can't think of any other way to describe it than torture."

The execution violated Dennis McGuire's constitutional right not to be treated or punished in a cruel or unusual way, said defense attorney Jon Paul Rion, representing McGuire's adult children.

McGuire's attorney Allen Bohnert called the convicted killer's death "a failed, agonizing experiment" and added: "The people of the state of Ohio should be appalled at what was done here today in their names."

It's almost certain lawyers will use McGuire's execution to challenge Ohio's plans to put a condemned Cleveland-area killer to death in March.

An AP report filed earlier this morning is, "Death Of Dennis McGuire Draws Obstacles For Ohio Executions," by Welsh-Huggins.  It's also via HuffPost.

Ohio's capital punishment system likely faces new challenges following an unusually long execution in which the condemned man appeared to gasp several times.

Family members of death row inmate Dennis McGuire planned a Friday news conference to announce a lawsuit over McGuire's death, which they are calling unconstitutional. And it's almost certain lawyers will use McGuire's Thursday execution to challenge Ohio's plans to put a condemned Cleveland-area killer to death next month.

"All citizens have a right to expect that they will not be treated or punished in a cruel and unusual way," defense attorney Jon Paul Rion, representing McGuire's adult children, said Thursday. "Today's actions violated that constitutional expectation."

"Ohio killer's slow execution raises controversy," is by Gary Strauss at USA Today.

The problems surfacing with McGuire's death, as well as last week's execution in Oklahoma of death row inmate Michael Lee Wilson -- who complained that he was "burning" after receiving a lethal mix of drugs including pentobarbital -- could spur many of the nation's 32 death penalty states to re-examine how they condemn convicted killers.

"What's happening is shocking. We're seeing the underside of the death penalty: irresponsible behavior by states and the realization that there's not a good way to kill people,'' says Diann Rust-Tierney, director of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. "This case and others are going to increase and galvanize those who oppose capital punishment and cause the public and policymakers to say. 'What are we doing?'"

"Ohio executes inmate using untried, untested lethal injection method," by Ed Pilkington in the Guardian.

Ohio’s recourse to the midazolam-hydromorphone combination was forced by a shortage of pentobarbital, a drug originally manufactured in Denmark, which has been subjected to strict export licences that prevent sale to US departments of correction. A European-wide boycott, designed to ensure that medical drugs are not used to kill people, has begun to bite across the 32 states that still have the death penalty on their books.

Ohio ran out of pentobarbital in September.

The adoption of midazolam as an alternative drug - not only in Ohio, but also in Florida, one of the most active death penalty states – has led to expressions of anger and disgust by leading physicians in the US. Joel Zivot, the medical director of the cardio-thoracic and vascular intensive care unit at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta and an opponent of the use of anesthetics in lethal injections, called the use of midazolam in executions “appalling and unethical”, and said, “The public should be concerned that [the] medicines that are used to help them are being diverted instead to kill people.”

"Inmate execution called 'agonizing experiment'," by Marc Kovac in the Youngstown Vindicator.

McGuire, 53, made loud snorting noises during one of the longest executions since Ohio resumed capital punishment in 1999. Nearly 25 minutes passed between the time the lethal drugs began flowing and McGuire was pronounced dead at 10:53 a.m.

State prison officials declined to comment on the execution Thursday afternoon, saying only that they were conducting their usual “after-action review” of the process.

Earlier coverage of the botched execution of Dennis McGuire begins at the link.

An Anesthesiologist Speaks Out Against Lethal Injection

"Why I'm for a moratorium on lethal injections," is the OpEd by Dr. Joel Zivot, M.D., in today's USA Today.  Here's the beginning of this must-read:

I am an anesthesiologist, and I possess the knowledge on how to render any person unconscious. You may call it sleep, but it is nothing of the sort.

I learned my craft with the use of sodium thiopental, a drug in the barbiturate class. To witness it for the first time, to watch as it raced into a vein, and in a moment, rendered the patient unconscious, was nothing short of astounding. In those moments, my job was to be reassuring and comforting, for I can imagine no greater moment of trust between a doctor and a patient.

Sodium thiopental is no longer in my pharmacology toolbox. Hospira, the last company to manufacture the drug, stopped making it to protest its use in carrying out the death penalty.

So other drugs have been substituted. One of them will be used Tuesday, when Oklahoma is scheduled to execute by lethal injection Johnny Dale Black, who was convicted of murder.

An executioner and the condemned are not the same as a doctor and a patient, though it is easy to see how similarities can be drawn. Had this supposed similarity not been noticed, the death penalty in the U.S. would likely not have survived. Instead, lethal injection created an illusion of humane, professional execution. But the executioners are not doctors, and it's been well established that the executions themselves are not humane.

Related posts are in the physician and lethal injection category indexes.

Breaking News From Ohio

"Kasich postpones execution of inmate who wants to donate organs," is by  Alan Johnson for the Columbus Dispatch.

Convicted child-killer Ronald Phillips was in the Death House and had ordered his last meal when he got the word yesterday: Gov. John Kasich had postponed his execution set for today to determine whether his “nonvital” organs could be harvested as he requested.

His execution now is scheduled for July 2.

“His first words were, ‘God is good.’ He feels immense gratitude to the governor,” said Tim Sweeney, the condemned man’s Cleveland attorney.

Kasich’s action is unprecedented in the nation in the case of an imminent execution, a death-penalty expert said.

The Republican governor said he halted Phillips’ execution “so that medical experts can assess whether Phillips’ nonvital organs or tissues can be donated to his mother or possibly others.”

“Ronald Phillips committed a heinous crime for which he will face the death penalty,” Kasich said in a statement less than 18 hours before the condemned man was to be lethally injected using two drugs never before used in combination. “I realize this is a bit of uncharted territory for Ohio, but if another life can be saved by his willingness to donate his organs and tissues, then we should allow for that to happen.”

The governor said if Phillips “is found to be a viable donor to his mother or possibly others awaiting transplants of nonvital organs, such as kidneys, the procedures would be performed and then he would be returned to Death Row to await his new execution date.”

AP coverage is, "Ohio governor delays execution, says inmate request to donate organs is ‘uncharted territory’," by Julie Carr Smyth.  It's via the Washington Post, and is also available from the Christian Science Monitor.

Ohio’s governor delayed the execution of a condemned child killer to consider the inmate’s unprecedented organ donation request, acknowledging that it’s “uncharted territory” but expressing hope that the man might help save a life before losing his own.

Ronald Phillips, 40, was scheduled to be put to death Thursday with a lethal injection of a two-drug combination not yet tried in the U.S., but Gov. John Kasich issued a stay of execution Wednesday. The execution date has been rescheduled for July 2.

“I realize this is a bit of uncharted territory for Ohio, but if another life can be saved by his willingness to donate his organs and tissues then we should allow for that to happen,” Kasich said in a statement. He said he wanted to allow time for medical experts to study whether Phillips could donate non-vital organs, such as a kidney, before being executed.

And:

Ohio’s prison medical policy accommodates organ donations, but prison officials rejected the request, saying it came too late to work out logistics and security concerns.

Kasich said Phillips’ crime was heinous but his willingness to donate organs and tissue could save another life and the state should try to accommodate that.

Some 3,500 people in Ohio and more than 120,000 nationally are awaiting organ donations, said Marilyn Pongonis, a spokeswoman for the Lifeline of Ohio organ donation program.

If Phillips is a viable donor for his mother, who has kidney disease and is on dialysis, or for others awaiting live transplants of non-vital organs, the stay would allow time for those procedures to be performed, Kasich said.

Earlier coverage from Ohio begins at the link.

Oklahoma Roundup

The Tulsa World reports, "Man twice given death penalty in Tulsa clerk's 1994 killing due third sentencing trial," by Bill Braun.

A Tulsa federal judge has ruled that a convicted Tulsa County murderer who has received a death sentence twice is entitled to another new sentencing trial because he received ineffective legal assistance at his previous resentencing.

Because defense counsel for James J. Fitzgerald, 54, decided not to present expert testimony as mitigation for the defense, the jury was "left to conclude that the petitioner (Fitzgerald) was simply a calculating, violent man,'' according to a 101-page order filed recently by Chief U.S. District Judge Gregory Frizzell.

As U.S. Magistrate Lane Wilson observed in a report, the resentencing jury in 2000 had no understanding of the interplay of Fitzgerald's diabetes diagnosis, his lack of family support from a young age, damage to the frontal lobe of his brain, and the impact his intoxication had on his brain function, according to Frizzell's filing.

The state Attorney General's Office has filed notice of an intent to appeal the resentencing ruling to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Attorneys from the Oklahoma Indigent Defense System represented Fitzgerald at his 2000 resentencing trial.

"Oklahoma lawmaker wants death row organ donations," is the AP report, via the San Francisco Chronicle.

A state lawmaker says he wants to give Oklahoma's death row inmates a chance at redemption by donating their organs before their execution.

Democratic state Rep. Joe Dorman of Rush Springs said Wednesday that he's developing legislation that would give a person who's been convicted of taking a life an opportunity to give someone else a chance to live a longer life.

Dorman says the program would be voluntary and no inmate would be forced to give up an organ. But Ryan Holmes, assistant director of health care ethics at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University in California, says the idea raises ethical concerns and would be "very problematic" for surgeons.

Earlier coverage from Oklahoma begins at the link.

Missouri ACLU Sues Over Lethal Injection Drug Secrecy

Today's St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports, "ACLU sues to lift secrecy over Missouri execution team," by Jeremy Kohler.

After a Post-Dispatch investigation seven years ago revealed the identity of Missouri’s lead executioner, exposing a history including public discipline from the state medical board and false statements in court, the Legislature took action.

It enacted a law to ban any person from “knowingly disclosing the identity of a current or former member of an execution team.’’

The Department of Corrections announced on Tuesday it was adding a compounding pharmacy to the execution team and invoked the 2007 law protecting the pharmacy’s workers from disclosure.

On Wednesday, the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri sued in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to try to overturn the law so “we can post documents that identify execution team members on our website without fear of violating any statutes,” said its legal director, Tony Rothert. Under the law, an executioner whose identity was revealed could file a lawsuit and recover actual and punitive damages from the person who revealed the name.

Missouri has long struggled to find executioners and execution drugs with spotless histories. Most medical professionals and drug companies avoid being associated with taking lives.

ACLU sued the state this month for records of the state’s inventory of propofol, an anesthetic the state had planned to use in lethal injections to execute murderers Allen Nicklasson on Oct. 23 and Joseph Paul Franklin on Nov. 20.

"Civil rights group sues Missouri for concealing suppliers of execution drugs," is by Carey Gillam of Reuters, via the Chicago Tribune.

The American Civil Liberties Union sued Missouri prison officials on Wednesday seeking to force the state to divulge the compounding pharmacies that supply its lethal execution drugs and identities of other members of its death row execution team.

The lawsuit came a day after the state said it would start classifying those pharmacies among the various personnel and entities involved in administering the death penalty in Missouri and thus shielded from public disclosure of their identities.

The lawsuit accuses the state of unconstitutionally censoring information the public has a right to know, including where the state is procuring drugs it uses to put condemned inmates to death.

"The government's trend toward unwarranted secrecy that conceals practices of doubtful constitutionality needs to stop," Jeffrey Mittman, executive director of the Missouri unit of the ACLU, said in a statement.

A spokesman for the Missouri Corrections Department did not respond to a request for comment.

"ACLU files suit over secrecy of execution team," is ACLU coverage, via the San Francisco Chronicle.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday by the ACLU branch in St. Louis, asks that the court find the statute unconstitutional.

On Tuesday, the Corrections Department announced it was switching to a new lethal injection drug, the sedative pentobarbital, which is also used in executions in 13 other states. The state had planned to use the anesthetic propofol, but Gov. Jay Nixon on Oct. 11 halted all executions until a new drug was found.

The new protocol makes a compounding pharmacy part of the execution team, and the statute protects the anonymity of the pharmacy.

Earlier coverage of Missouri lethal injection issues begins at the link.

Also available, more on Dr. Alan Doerhoff, the physician who participated in Missouri executions.

Another St. Louis Post-Dispatch Editorial on LI Drugs

Today's St. Louis Post-Dispatch publishes the editorial, "Greed, legalized corruption and the death penalty."  Here's the beginning.  It's a must-read for those following lethal injeciton issues.

It has been (another) strange week for capital punishment in the state of Missouri.

• On Monday, Gov. Jay Nixon said he wouldn’t bow to threats that the European Union would reduce shipments of the anesthetic drug propofol to hospitals in the United States unless Missouri returned 20 vials of propofol that it acquired by accident.
• On Wednesday, Mr. Nixon changed his mind and ordered the Department of Corrections to return the propofol — manufactured by Fresenius Kabi of Germany — to the distributor that accidentally sold it to the DOC.
• The corrections department hastened to add that it still had enough domestically produced propofol to carry out the scheduled execution of convicted murderer Allen Nicklasson on Oct. 23.
• Thus Missouri has enough propofol to kill someone while hospitals around the state (and the country) are scrambling — for reasons that will be discussed shortly — to find enough to keep people alive.
• A Fresenius Kabi spokesman said that while the firm was glad to have its propofol back, executing someone with propofol, regardless of where it was made, could still trigger EU sanctions. That would make the propofol shortage for hospitals even worse.
• Then Hospira Inc., of Lake Forest, Ill., which manufactured Missouri’s remaining propofol (it took a very slow response to an ACLU Sunshine Law request to discover this) said it wanted its propofol back, too. The sale had been unauthorized, a Hospira statement said.
• On a ridiculous note, state Sen. Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia, who is planning to run for state attorney general in 2016, decided to out-gas chamber Chris Koster, the current attorney general. Mr. Koster, frustrated at legal challenges to lethal injection, said last month that the state might have to resort to the gas chamber. Me too, Mr. Schaefer wrote in Thursday’s Post-Dispatch.

Earlier coverage of Missouri lethal injection issues begins at the link.

Missouri Governor Says Europe Won't Block Missouri Executions

"Missouri's lethal injection procedure to continue with limited propofol supply," is the AP report by Alan Scher Zagier.  It's via the Columbia Missourian.

Missouri will move ahead with two planned executions despite efforts in Europe to block a common anesthetic from being used in the procedure, Gov. Jay Nixon said Monday.

German company Fresenius Kabi produces almost the entire supply of propofol, but the European Union is considering possible export limits as part of its anti-capital punishment policies. Missouri has enough to carry out its next two executions and one more, the first scheduled for later this month, but Nixon declined to say what the state would do if it is unable to get more propofol. The drug made headlines in 2009 when pop star Michael Jackson died of an overdose. The Missouri executions would be the first to use propofol.

Nixon said state and federal court systems, not European politicians, will decide death penalty policy in Missouri.

"A number of courts have already had an opportunity to review this matter," Nixon also said, referring to broader legal challenges to the death penalty. "We're going to continue to monitor it very closely. At this point, there's no stay in effect."

On Friday, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against the Missouri Department of Corrections, alleging the agency failed to comply with open records requests related to its planned use of propofol in executions.

The Missouri Society of Anesthesiologists has also urged the state to reconsider using propofol, warning that Missouri "is on the verge of triggering a national drug shortage that will have a severe impact on the general welfare of the citizens of our state and our country." The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has also expressed concern about any move that would limit access to the drug. A lawsuit filed against the state by 21 death-row inmates after the new protocol was announced remains pending

"Mo. Society of Anesthesiologists Opposes Use of Propofol in Executions," is by KMOX-AM News.

Dr. Donald Arnold is a board member of the Missouri Society of Anesthesiologists, whose group has urged the state to reconsider using propofol.

“Accordingly, we strongly oppose the Missouri Department of Corrections use of propofol in lethal injections due to the immediate impact it could have on our ability to safely administer anesthesia during surgery,” he said.

The Missouri Supreme Court has set a date of October 23 for the execution of Allen Nicklasson and a date of November 20 for the execution of Joseph Franklin.

Dr. Arnold says his group’s opposition to the use of the drug in executions has nothing to do with the death penalty itself. “From our perspective, the debate is not about capital punishment. Our position, first and foremost, is that we’re here to care for patients,” he said.

Earlier coverage of Missouri lethal injection issues begins at the link.

Related posts are in the international and lethal injection indexes.

Florida to Seek Death Penalty Against Doctor - Updated - Death Not Sought

Update - October 2.  The South Florida Sun Sentinel reports, "No death penalty against former West Palm doctor in murder cases," by Marc Freeman.

The Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office won't seek the death penalty against a former West Palm Beach doctor charged with the overdose deaths of two patients from painkillers and anti-anxiety medicines.

Prosecutors in late August filed paperwork indicating they were considering the unusual move against John Christensen, 62, who was arrested a month earlier.

But Assistant State Attorney Barbara Burns on Sept. 25 filed a notice in circuit court that the death penalty is not in play. Still, Christensen remains charged with two counts of first-degree murder by drug distribution — and 89 other felony drug crimes.

"I applaud them for taking the death penalty off the table, which is completely appropriate," Richard Lubin, Christensen's attorney, said Tuesday. "The evidence will show Dr. Christensen is not guilty of the charges themselves."

The next court date in the case is Oct. 18, when Circuit Judge Charles Burton will hear a status report from the lawyers.

"Prosecutors seek death penalty in doctor’s patient overdose trial," is Jane Musgrave's report in the Palm Beach Post.

A 61-year-old West Palm Beach doctor could be sentenced to die by lethal injection if he is convicted of charges that he caused the overdose deaths of two patients.

In court papers filed late last month, Assistant Palm Beach County State Attorney Barbara Burns said she intends to seek the death penalty against Dr. John Christensen.

Arrested in July, the chiropractor-turned-medical-doctor faces two counts of first-degree murder, 90 counts of trafficking in oxycodone and 34 other drug charges in connection with his operation of A1A Health and Wellness Clinic on Broadway — a medical office that law enforcement agents said was nothing more than a pill mill.

Attorney Richard Lubin, who recently took over Christensen’s case, called the state’s decision to pursue the death penalty “shocking.” Simply charging a doctor with murder is stunning enough, he said. But to add the prospect of death is inexplicable.

“Under any interpretation of various Florida State Supreme Court or United States Supreme Court decisions this would not qualify as a death penalty case,” he said Friday.

And:

...Similar claims were made against Drs. Cynthia Cadet and Joseph Castronuovo who were charged in federal court with causing the deaths of six and two patients, respectively. A jury in July cleared them of the charges that could have sent them to prison for life. Both instead were convicted of money-laundering in connection with their work for clinics run by Wellington resident Chris George. They are awaiting sentencing.

Earlier coverage from Florida begins at the link.

An Update From Missouri

The River Front Times reports, "Missouri Death Penalty: ACLU Casts Doubt on Doctor Slated to Execute Two Inmates," by Sam Levin.

As we reported last month, Missouri has set execution dates for two death row inmates, a major turning point in the drawn-out legal battles surrounding capital punishment in the state. Since the Missouri Supreme Court granted the state's request to schedule those executions, activists nationally have raised concerns about the planned use of propofol, a sedative that has never been used before to administer the death penalty.

And now, a local group critical of the death penalty is speaking out against a different part of the process -- directly targeting the doctor slated to carry out the execution.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri says that the executioner is a certified anesthesiologist who has conducted at least one execution in the past. This is in direct violation, the ACLU argues, of the American Board of Anesthesiology standards, which prohibit certified anesthesiologists from participating in executions.

"You cannot be board-certified and participate in an execution," Jeffrey Mittman, ACLU-EM executive director, tells Daily RFT. "The state of Missouri should certainly be aware of this standard."

The ACLU last week sent a letter, full document on view below, to the American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA), asking it to suspend this Missouri execution doctor's board certification.

"Decision by Missouri to use propofol for capital punishment could affect local supply," is the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal report written by Ellysa Gonzalez.

Distribution of a drug popularly used in Lubbock and elsewhere to put patients to sleep for surgeries and procedures could be altered if Missouri uses it to execute two convicted killers in the coming months.

The decision by the Missouri Department of Corrections to use propofol has led a couple of the drug’s distributors to voice concerns using it for capital punishment is against their ethics and could jeopardize the European/American distribution relationship from overseas.

And:

On Oct. 23, Allen Nicklasson is scheduled to be the first prisoner in the United States to be lethally injected with propofol, followed by Joseph Franklin on Nov. 20, Associated Press reports state.

Missouri Department of Corrections officials declined comment when asked if the drug was still going to be used in light of recent statements from Fresenius Kabi USA officials about jeopardizing distribution of propofol to the U.S. from European drug makers.

Phone calls and emails to the Missouri Attorney General’s Office and the Missouri Governor’s Office regarding the same topic went unanswered.

Manny said drug manufacturers strictly enforce guidelines for handling the drug.

Kuhn said Fresenius Kabi released statements in August 2012 regarding the product’s distribution.

“Last year we did restrict the distribution of the product,” he said. “We sent a notice to limit the number of distributors. We do not want this product sent to any department of corrections in the U.S.”

The statements are similar to Hospira’s distribution guidelines.

“Hospira makes its products to enhance and save the lives of the patients we serve, and, therefore, we have always publicly objected to the use of any of our products in capital punishment,” Rosenberg wrote. “Consistent with our goal of providing our customers uninhibited access to our products while restricting distribution for unintended uses, Hospira has implemented a restricted distribution system under which Hospira and its distributors have ceased the direct sale to U.S. prison hospitals of certain products, including propofol, that we believe are part of some states’ lethal injection protocols.”

Earlier coverage of Missouri lethal injection issues and the recent setting of execution dates begins at the link.  Related posts are in the lethal injection index.

North Carolina Governor Signs RJA Repeal into Law

"McCrory signs repeal of Racial Justice Act," is the AP report via the Raleigh News & Observer.  It contains additional information from News & Observer staff writer David Bracken and Charlotte Observer staff writer Rick Rothacker.

Gov. Pat McCrory’s signature Wednesday repealed a landmark law that had allowed convicted murderers to have their sentences reduced to life in prison if they could prove racial bias influenced the outcome of their cases.

McCrory signed a repeal of the 2009 Racial Justice Act, which both proponents and critics say will restart the death penalty in a state that hasn’t executed an inmate since 2006.

McCrory’s final signature followed months of debate between Democrats and Republicans on the law’s intent and the way it has played out. Republicans say it was so poorly crafted that it has allowed nearly all of the state’s 156 death-row inmates to launch appeals under the law regardless of their race. They say the law impedes the will of unanimous jury decisions.

McCrory raised similar complaints in a statement.

“The policy implementation of the law was seriously flawed. Nearly every person on death row, regardless of race, has appealed their death sentence under the Racial Justice Act,” he said. “The state’s district attorneys are nearly unanimous in their bipartisan conclusion that the Racial Justice Act created a judicial loophole to avoid the death penalty and not a path to justice.”

But Democrats argue there’s plenty of evidence that those juries were racially biased.

They cite a Michigan State University study of North Carolina that found evidence of prosecutors striking black people from capital cases at more than twice the rate of others over two decades.

They also point to the 2012 decisions of a Cumberland County judge to reduce the sentences of four convicted murderers on racial grounds.

ReutersLegal posts, "North Carolina governor signs law aimed at restarting executions," by Colleen Jenkins.

North Carolina's governor, hoping to resume executions in his state, on Wednesday signed the repeal of a law that has allowed death row inmates to seek a reduced sentence if they could prove racial bias affected their punishment.

The Racial Justice Act, the only law of its kind in the United States, had led to four inmates getting their sentences changed to life in prison without parole after taking effect in 2009.

Supporters said the historic measure addressed the state's long record of racial injustice in its capital punishment system, while critics said it caused unnecessary costs and delays after nearly all death-row inmates, including whites, sought relief under the act.

Governor Pat McCrory, a Republican, said repealing the law would remove the "procedural roadblocks" that had kept North Carolina from executing anyone since 2006 despite there being 152 people on death row.

And:

The repeal applies retroactively to cases with pending Racial Justice Act claims, a factor certain to result in additional legal wrangling, one death penalty expert said.

"To me, it's a violation of due process," said Mark Rabil, director of Wake Forest University law school's Innocence and Justice Clinic in Winston-Salem. "I don't really know what the legislature thinks they've done with our money other than buy a lot more litigation."

Plain Talk Politics features a Guest Opinion column by Steve Monks of Conservatives Concerned about the Death Penalty.

As legislators in Raleigh once again fiddle with our state’s death penalty, some of us who are conservative republicans are at the point where we’ve had enough. The most recent attempts to modify North Carolina’s death penalty, yet again, are the latest indications that the system will never work properly. Conservatives across the nation are waking up to this the fact. I know about it firsthand because my brother, who lives in Houston, Texas, is a founding member of a group called Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty.

My brother’s group is part of a growing number of people on “the right” who are openly questioning whether the death penalty serves any good purpose for our society. Conservatives are asking these questions precisely because we are conservative republicans.

Earlier coverage from North Carolina begins at the link.

Let the Racial Justice Act Stand

That's the title of an editorial in the News & Observer of Raleigh, North Carolina.

Sen. Thom Goolsby, a New Hanover County Republican, successfully pushed through a bill to repeal North Carolina’s Racial Justice Act. He said that the original legislation was “poorly written.”

But the truth is the law was written with impressive clarity, starting with the title. It is a law about race and justice. Those two words were not often aligned in the Old South, especially in state laws. That was what made the RJA a monument to the New South and a credit to the state that has on many fronts led the South forward.

And:

The bill to repeal the Racial Justice Act succeeded because prosecutors resented having their motives questioned, and they wanted the threat of death to pressure suspects into plea bargains. They weren’t acting as ministers of justice. They were acting as administers of convictions.

The governor has the opportunity to show he’s willing to change his mind in light of the facts. This bill offers the first serious test of where he wants to lead North Carolina. Will it be forward or backward?

"Red State Resurgence Greenlights Executions," is by Martin Clancy at Huffington Post.  He's the co-author of the recently published, Murder at the Supreme Court: Lethal Crimes and Landmark Cases.

Supporters of the Racial Justice Act saw it as a historic measure that addressed a long history of injustice. As the Winston-Salem Journal noted in an editorial, some examples were blatant: a black defendant who got the death penalty in Stanly County being referred to in trial testimonyz as a "nigger from Wadesboro"; a juror in a Randolph County case who said after the trial in which he voted for death for the black defendant that "blacks do not care as much about living as whites do."

A study by Michigan State University researchers determined that over the two decades preceding passage of the Racial Justice Act, North Carolina prosecutors rejected twice as many blacks as potential jurors than they did whites; the rejection rate was even higher in cases where the defendant was black.

"Repealing this law in the face of clear evidence that it is still much needed in our court rooms comes perilously close to institutionalized discrimination in our justice system," said the Wilmington Star-News.

Republicans now wield more political cloat in North Carolina than they have for generations. They captured control of the legislature in 2010 for the first time in a century, then broadened their majority while also capturing the governorship in 2012.

The Racial Justice Act was one of the issues prompting weekly demonstrations against Republican efforts to roll back fiscal and social measures put in place by their predecessors. Dubbed "Moral Mondays," the six weeks of demonstrations at the state Capitol have so far resulted in over 380 arrests.

But neither the editorials nor the protests have deterred the powerful Republican majorities in both houses of the General Assembly. They not only repealed the Racial Justice Act, but also conferred legal protection on medical professionals who might assist in executions. Doctors, nurses and technicians would not be liable to regulators or ethics boards for their participation in administering lethal injections. So much for the Hippocratic oath to "do no harm."

Earlier coverage from North Carolina begins at the link; also available, more on Murder at the Supreme Court.

RJA Editorial Roundup

The New York Times publishes the editorial, "Racial Injustice in North Carolina."

The North Carolina Legislature repealed the state’s Racial Justice Act this week, and the Republican governor, Pat McCrory, is expected to sign the bill. But the state cannot erase the detailed and irrefutable proof of ugly racial bias that led a state trial judge to resentence four death row inmates to life without parole because of this statute.

Passed in 2009, the law made North Carolina the first state in the country to give death row inmates the chance to have their sentences changed if they proved that state prosecutors significantly discriminated on the basis of race — for example, in selecting jurors. Judge Gregory Weeks tried one case on its own and three others together; in 2012, he found the bias of prosecutors intentional in all four cases.

And:

Despite the repeal of the Racial Justice Act, there are still about 150 other cases pending under the act. It is unclear whether these cases must be allowed to go forward under the State Constitution.

The number of death sentences issued in the state declined from 33 in 1993 to 1 so far this year, and North Carolina has executed no one since 2006 — indicators that there is no need for this option to be part of the criminal justice system. The persistence of racial bias in death penalty prosecutions makes abolishing capital punishment even more urgent.

"The Racial Injustice Act," is the Wilmington Star News editorial.

The Racial Justice Act is dead – at least it will be if Gov. Pat McCrory signs its repeal or, as he did with another controversial bill, simply lets the repeal become law. Technically, the repeal – thrown in as an aside to a bill to speed up the executions of death-row inmates – still has another vote to go on Tuesday, when the Senate takes a vote on language reconciling the House and Senate versions. But that is just a formality.

Senate Bill 306, sponsored by Sen. Thom Goolsby, R-New Han­over, eliminates a tool that in only a handful of cases has shown how prosecutors used discretionary challenges to exclude qualified black jurors at a much higher rate than white jurors. It allowed inmates to prove their case – the burden was on them – by using statistics showing a pattern of bias in the justice system as well as the facts in their own case. If they won, the best they could do was life in prison with no parole.

Credible studies and decades of history tell us that the justice system in North Carolina is far from colorblind. The Racial Justice Act was an effort to ensure that sentences were imposed and carried out based only on the facts of the crime, not the race of the defendant or the victim.

The Greensboro News-Record publishes the editorial, "The execution hurry."

The legislation gives license to a physician, nurse or pharmacist to actually administer a lethal injection, contradicting the ethical standards of their professions. It’s an extraordinary step by a legislature to assert its judgment regarding medical matters over that of medical organizations themselves, but that’s exactly what this does.

It infuriates Dr. Charles van der Horst, a professor at the UNC School of Medicine in Chapel Hill and an ardent opponent of capital punishment. He suggests the politicians carry out executions themselves.

“Why do they need doctors, nurses and pharmacists, who want to help people, not kill them?” he asked.

He added that physicians who do participate should be ostracized within the profession — and he’ll lead the effort.

When this bill arrives on his desk, McCrory should consider two questions.

Does he want to side with the legislature against the positions of the American Medical Association and N.C. Medical Board?

And, does he really want to break Easley’s record and become North Carolina’s leading execution governor of modern times?

He should say no on both counts and veto the bill. It is not worthy of our state.

Earlier coverage of the North Carolina legislation begins at the link.

North Carolina House Casts Final Vote to Repeal RJA

Today's New York Times reports, "North Carolina Repeals Law Allowing Racial Bias Claim in Death Penalty Challenges."  It's by Kim Severson.

After one more perfunctory pass through the State Senate, which already passed a version of the measure, the bill repealing the act will head to Gov. Pat McCrory, a Republican elected last year who has said he will sign it.

A section of the law rescinding the act will now prevent doctors, nurses and other health care professionals from being punished by regulatory boards if they assist in executions. The state medical board in 2007 said it would penalize medical professionals who participated, a policy the State Supreme Court later said was beyond the board’s authority.

The floor debate over the Racial Justice Act began a day after 151 people were arrested in Raleigh as opposition grows to a newly conservative government in a state that has long been considered centrist.

Preserving the act, which was passed when there was a Democrat in the governor’s office and the legislature was not as heavily controlled by Republicans, was among dozens of issues brought up by protesters who have been gathering every Monday since April.

Monday’s protest, organized by the N.A.A.C.P., drew more than a thousand people. Since the protests began, about 300 people have been arrested on trespassing charges and other charges related to acts of civil disobedience.

"N.C. House approves repeal of Racial Justice Act," is the AP filing by Chris Kardish.  It's via the Rocky Mount Telegram.

The N.C. House passed a bill Wednesday clearing the way for executions to resume in the state.

The Republican-controlled House voted mostly along party lines to fully repeal a law that allows convicted murderers to reduce a death sentence to life in prison if they can prove that race played a major role in their cases. The 2009 law had already been weakened last year by Republicans, who successfully pushed to restrict the use of statistics to prove bias and require other forms of evidence.

The House gave initial approval Tuesday after an hour and a half of debate. The Senate already passed the bill but has to approve some minor changes added by the House.

The measure also protects medical professionals who assist in an execution from disciplinary action.

The Yadkin Ripple publishes an OpEd, "Death of Racial (In)justice Act," by Senator Thom Goolsby, leader of the RJA repeal effort.

The prosecutor is a racist and the first-degree, cold-blooded killer is a victim.” This two-part statement is the claim of every legal appeal under the ill-conceived Racial Justice Act (RJA).

Written by death penalty opponents and passed in 2009, RJA has accomplished its desired effect: it has created a de facto moratorium on the death penalty in North Carolina. The poorly written law allows every murderer on death row, regardless of color or ethnicity, to appeal his sentence. Of the 152 inmates on death row, all but four have used RJA to forestall their executions.

Earlier coverage from North Carolina begins at the link.

North Carolina Update

"Racial Justice Act: Death penalty measure advances in N.C. House," is the AP report by Chris Kardish.  It's via the Fayetteville Observer.

A North Carolina House panel endorsed a bill Wednesday that repeals a procedure for condemned inmates to challenge death sentences on racial grounds, sending the measure to the full House for final passage.

The bill is intended to restart executions in the state by ending the Racial Justice Act, which was passed four years ago when Democrats controlled state government. The act allows a judge to reduce a death sentence to life in prison if race is found to be a significant factor in the case.

It was weakened last legislative session by new Republican majorities. The state hasn't carried out an execution since 2006 because of various legal appeals.

The bill also protects medical professionals from disciplinary action from licensing boards for assisting in an execution, but the provision repealing the Racial Justice Act has generated the most attention, drawing debate from district attorneys on both sides of the issue, the families of murder victims and religious leaders.

The bill already passed the Senate. Republicans control both chambers of the General Assembly and the governor's mansion.

The bill originally allowed inmates to cite statistics in their appeals, but Republicans repealed that provision last session. A Cumberland County judge reduced the sentences of four convicted murderers on racial grounds last year, ruling on three of the cases after the rollback of the act.

Earlier coverage from North Carolina begins at the link.

Sentencing Deal in High Visibility Pennsylvania Case

"Abortion doc set for last court hearing amid deal," is the AP report by Maryclaire Dale, via the San Francisco Chronicle.

A Philadelphia abortion doctor convicted of killing three babies born alive at his clinic will be formally sentenced in the death of one of the babies Wednesday, along with the overdose death of a patient and hundreds of abortion law violations.

Dr. Kermit Gosnell has decided not to appeal the first-degree murder conviction handed down Monday for killing three babies. Instead, the 72-year-old physician will accept several terms of life without parole and avoid a potential death sentence.

Gosnell assured a judge Tuesday that he was making the deal freely, and was then sentenced in the deaths of the first two babies. He offered the same odd, bemused smile that has become his trademark in court.

The Philadelphia Inquirer report is, "Gosnell won't appeal; gets life, not death," by Joseph A. Slobodzian.

Cordial, smiling - and acknowledging he will never get out of prison - West Philadelphia abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell on Tuesday agreed to waive his appeal rights to escape the chance of death by lethal injection.

Gosnell, 72, dressed in a mustard-yellow prison jumpsuit, entered the courtroom shortly before 4 p.m., the same courtroom where a day earlier he was found guilty by a Common Pleas Court jury of murdering three babies born alive during illegal late-term abortions.

Gosnell did not speak about his decision except to answer the judge's questions about understanding what he was doing.

"Are you satisfied with your attorney's representation?" Judge Jeffrey P. Minehart asked. Gosnell turned to face defense attorney Jack McMahon, smiled broadly, and replied, "I am very satisfied with your representation."

Assistant District Attorney Edward Cameron then called out asking if Gosnell were taking psychiatric medication or under treatment for mental illness, adding, "No offense."

"No offense taken," Gosnell replied. "No, I'm not."

Minehart immediately sentenced Gosnell to two consecutive life prison terms without parole on two of the first-degree murder counts.

"Doctor Avoids Death Penalty in Murders at His Clinic," by Trip Gabriel for the New York Times.

Prosecutors had said from the start of the trial that they would seek the death penalty because of the “aggravated” circumstances of the crimes Dr. Gosnell was charged with: murder of more than one person and the young age of the victims.

But the district attorney’s willingness to compromise on a life-without-parole sentence seemed a calculation about the difficulty of persuading the same 12 jurors to agree on capital punishment after they spent 10 days sifting evidence and acquitted Dr. Gosnell on one first-degree murder charge. Before deliberations began, the judge dismissed charges in three other pregnancy terminations.

The trial included graphic testimony that galvanized debate over abortion far beyond the downtown Philadelphia courthouse.

"Deal spares abortion doctor death penalty," by Brady Dennis and Sandhya Somashekhar in the Washington Post.

Gosnell had been expected to undergo a post-trial “penalty phase” next week, in which a jury would weigh whether to impose the death penalty or life in prison. Gosnell’s attorney, Jack McMahon, said in an interview Tuesday that such a proceeding probably would have involved having Gosnell’s wife and children testifying on his behalf and that the ­72-year-old doctor did not want to subject them to public scrutiny.

“He just didn’t want to do that. They’ve gone through a lot,” McMahon said. “That was the motivating factor here.”