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| Death row inmates face execution in three states amid drug controversy | Death row inmates face execution in three states amid drug controversy |
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| Three prisoners could be executed in the US this week amid heightened scrutiny over the secretive way states are putting inmates to death in the wake of recent gruesome botches. | |
| Marcus Wellons, 59, is to be put to death by Georgia at 7pm ET on Tuesday, using a single massive dose of the barbiturate pentobarbital. His lawyers are seeking to block the execution by arguing that the state’s excessive secrecy about the source of its drug supplies is violating his constitutional rights. | Marcus Wellons, 59, is to be put to death by Georgia at 7pm ET on Tuesday, using a single massive dose of the barbiturate pentobarbital. His lawyers are seeking to block the execution by arguing that the state’s excessive secrecy about the source of its drug supplies is violating his constitutional rights. |
| Last year Georgia introduced a new law that declared the identity of anyone involved in the execution process – including compounding pharmacies that make up the drugs to order – a “confidential state secret”. The law was upheld by the Georgia supreme court, but Wellons’ attorneys are challenging it in the federal courts. | Last year Georgia introduced a new law that declared the identity of anyone involved in the execution process – including compounding pharmacies that make up the drugs to order – a “confidential state secret”. The law was upheld by the Georgia supreme court, but Wellons’ attorneys are challenging it in the federal courts. |
| The legal complaint makes the point that only state officials “know exactly how they plan to execute Mr Wellons on Tuesday night … The simple truth about any drug is that unless you know how it was made –where, and from what and by whom – you cannot know what it is. Accordingly, the decision to use compounded pentobarbital from an undisclosed source poses a substantial threat of undue pain and suffering to Mr Wellons.” | The legal complaint makes the point that only state officials “know exactly how they plan to execute Mr Wellons on Tuesday night … The simple truth about any drug is that unless you know how it was made –where, and from what and by whom – you cannot know what it is. Accordingly, the decision to use compounded pentobarbital from an undisclosed source poses a substantial threat of undue pain and suffering to Mr Wellons.” |
| Concern about execution methods increased dramatically with the botched execution of Clayton Lockett in Oklahoma on 29 April. The prisoner took 43 minutes to die and was seen writhing and groaning on the gurney. No executions have been carried out in the US since then. | Concern about execution methods increased dramatically with the botched execution of Clayton Lockett in Oklahoma on 29 April. The prisoner took 43 minutes to die and was seen writhing and groaning on the gurney. No executions have been carried out in the US since then. |
| An initial autopsy report released last week by a forensic pathologist found multiple puncture marks on his arms suggesting that those carrying out the execution had struggled to find a vein, even though Lockett’s veins were in good condition. | An initial autopsy report released last week by a forensic pathologist found multiple puncture marks on his arms suggesting that those carrying out the execution had struggled to find a vein, even though Lockett’s veins were in good condition. |
| “Following Lockett’s execution, the courts and the public are looking much more closely at the way death penalty states conduct their business. There’s more burden on the states to justify what they are going to do,” said Richard Dieter of the Death Penalty Information Center. | “Following Lockett’s execution, the courts and the public are looking much more closely at the way death penalty states conduct their business. There’s more burden on the states to justify what they are going to do,” said Richard Dieter of the Death Penalty Information Center. |
| Just a few hours after Wellons is scheduled to be executed, John Henry is set to be put to death in Florida. | Just a few hours after Wellons is scheduled to be executed, John Henry is set to be put to death in Florida. |
| John Winfield also may face execution on Wednesday in Missouri, where state officials have appealed against last week’s decision by a federal judge to postpone the procedure on grounds that a prison employee had been intimidated against testifying in favour of the prisoner at his clemency hearing. | John Winfield also may face execution on Wednesday in Missouri, where state officials have appealed against last week’s decision by a federal judge to postpone the procedure on grounds that a prison employee had been intimidated against testifying in favour of the prisoner at his clemency hearing. |
| The Guardian and four other news outlets are challenging in the Missouri courts the state’s insistence on secrecy over its lethal injection supplies. The lawsuit claims that Missouri is acting against the first amendment right of the people to have access to essential government procedures. | |
| A fourth execution, of Lewis Jordan, has also been set in Pennsylvania. The scheduling is required under Pennsylvania law following the exhaustion of Jordan’s appeals in state court, but in practice is purely figurative as he will now be allowed to appeal his case in the federal system, which could take many more years. | A fourth execution, of Lewis Jordan, has also been set in Pennsylvania. The scheduling is required under Pennsylvania law following the exhaustion of Jordan’s appeals in state court, but in practice is purely figurative as he will now be allowed to appeal his case in the federal system, which could take many more years. |
| Wellons was sentenced to die for the rape and murder of a 15-year-old neighbor girl, Indiana Roberts, in 1993. Henry was convicted of the 1985 stabbing death of his wife, Suzanne, and her son. Winfield's sentence was for the double-murder of his sister and a second woman during an attack on his ex-girlfriend. Jordan was convicted killing a police officer during a robbery of a Philadelphia area doughnut shop in 2007. | Wellons was sentenced to die for the rape and murder of a 15-year-old neighbor girl, Indiana Roberts, in 1993. Henry was convicted of the 1985 stabbing death of his wife, Suzanne, and her son. Winfield's sentence was for the double-murder of his sister and a second woman during an attack on his ex-girlfriend. Jordan was convicted killing a police officer during a robbery of a Philadelphia area doughnut shop in 2007. |
| The sudden flurry of execution activity following a recent lull means that both advocates of the death penalty and opponents will be on high alert this week. Any missteps on a level with the grim scenes in Oklahoma could have significant ramifications for the death sentence in America. | The sudden flurry of execution activity following a recent lull means that both advocates of the death penalty and opponents will be on high alert this week. Any missteps on a level with the grim scenes in Oklahoma could have significant ramifications for the death sentence in America. |
| “If anything even close to Oklahoma happens again, the death penalty itself could be at issue,” Dieter said. | “If anything even close to Oklahoma happens again, the death penalty itself could be at issue,” Dieter said. |
| Georgia has a particularly troubled record in terms of its procurement of lethal drugs to execute prisoners. When supplies of its previous drug of choice, sodium thiopental, ran out as a result of a European-lead boycott of US death penalty states, Georgia began importing the drug from unlawfully from a fly-by-night pharmaceutical wholesaler, Dream Pharma, that operated out of a driving school in Acton, west London. | Georgia has a particularly troubled record in terms of its procurement of lethal drugs to execute prisoners. When supplies of its previous drug of choice, sodium thiopental, ran out as a result of a European-lead boycott of US death penalty states, Georgia began importing the drug from unlawfully from a fly-by-night pharmaceutical wholesaler, Dream Pharma, that operated out of a driving school in Acton, west London. |
| In 2011, the federal drug enforcement administration seized Georgia’s entire supply of the anaesthetic. More recently, the state has turned to loosely regulated compounding pharmacies to make up pentobarbital for its executions. Nobody knows the identity of the drug outlet involved, as it is covered by the new secrecy law. | In 2011, the federal drug enforcement administration seized Georgia’s entire supply of the anaesthetic. More recently, the state has turned to loosely regulated compounding pharmacies to make up pentobarbital for its executions. Nobody knows the identity of the drug outlet involved, as it is covered by the new secrecy law. |