Print

Mail

wiki links

Florida's governor ceases executions

Governor Jeb Bush suspended all executions in Florida after a medical examiner said that prison officials botched the insertion of the needles when a convicted killer was put to death earlier this week.

Separately, a federal judge in California on Friday extended a moratorium on executions in the US' most populous state, declaring that the state's method of lethal injection violates the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

US District Judge Jeremy Fogel ruled in San Jose that California's "implementation of lethal injection is broken, but it can be fixed."

Challenge

The decisions are the latest in a nationwide challenge to lethal injection -- the preferred method of execution in 37 US states -- as cruel and unusual punishment. Last month, a federal judge declared Missouri's injection method, which is similar to California's, unconstitutional.

In Florida, medical examiner Dr William Hamilton said Wednesday's execution of Angel Nieves Diaz took 34 minutes -- twice as long as usual -- and required a rare second dose of lethal chemicals because the needles were inserted clear through his veins and into the flesh in his arms. The chemicals are supposed to go into the veins.

Hamilton, who performed the autopsy, refused to say whether he thought Diaz died a painful death.

"I am going to defer answers about pain and suffering until the autopsy is complete," he said.

He said the results were preliminary and other tests may take several weeks.

The US Supreme Court has previously upheld executions -- by lethal injection, hanging, firing squad, electric chair and gas chamber -- despite the pain they might cause, but has left unsettled the issue of whether the pain is unconstitutionally excessive.

Pain

Missing a vein when administering the injections would cause "both psychological and physical discomfort -- probably pretty severe," said Kent Garman, an emeritus professor of anesthesia at the Stanford School of Medicine in California.

"All the drugs would be much slower to affect the body because they're not going into a blood vessel. They're going under the skin. They take a long time to be absorbed by the body," said Garman.

Garman said he was ethically opposed to lethal injection.

An inmate would remain conscious for a longer period of time and would likely be aware of increased difficulty breathing and pain caused by angina, the interruption of blood flow to the heart, he said.

Jonathan Groner, associate professor of surgery at Ohio State University, said the injection would cause excruciating pain "like your arms are on fire."

Commission

Bush created a commission to examine the state's lethal injection process in light of Diaz's case, and he halted the signing of any more death warrants until the panel completes its final report by March 1.

The governor said he wants to ensure the process does not constitute cruel and unusual punishment, as some death penalty foes argued bitterly after Diaz's execution. Florida has 374 people on death row and it has carried out four executions this year.

Governor elect-Charlie Crist planned to continue the moratorium when he takes office in January, spokeswoman Vivian Myrtetus said.

Diaz, 55, was put to death for murdering the manager of a Miami topless bar during a holdup in 1979.

California

In the California ruling, Judge Fogel said the case raised the question of whether the three execution drugs administered by the San Quentin State Prison are so painful that they "offend" the ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Fogel said he was compelled "to answer that question in the affirmative."

California has been under a capital punishment moratorium since February, when Fogel called off the execution of rapist and murderer Michael Morales amid concerns that condemned inmates might suffer excruciating deaths.

Fogel found substantial evidence that the last six men executed at San Quentin might have been conscious because they were still breathing when lethal drugs were administered.

In Florida, the medical examiner's findings contradicted the explanation given by prison officials, who said Diaz needed the second dose because liver disease caused him to metabolize the lethal drugs more slowly. Hamilton said that although there were records that Diaz had hepatitis, his liver appeared normal.

Diaz's attorney, Suzanne Myers Keffler, reacted angrily to the findings.

"This is complete negligence on the part of the state," Keffler said.

"When he was still moving after the first shot of chemicals, they should have known there was a problem and they shouldn't have continued. This shows a complete disregard for Mr. Diaz. This is disgusting," she said.
This story has been viewed 2067 times.