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| Arizona lawyers lead call for inquiry into Joseph Wood's two-hour execution | Arizona lawyers lead call for inquiry into Joseph Wood's two-hour execution |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| Lawyers for the latest US inmate to endure a botched execution called for an independent inquiry into Joseph Wood’s drawn-out death by lethal injection in Arizona, which lasted for two hours during which witnesses said he repeatedly gasped for breath. | |
| The prolonged execution was described as "torture" by Arizona senator John McCain on Thursday, who added that the procedure was "bollocks-upped" and "terrible". | |
| Wood’s death has reignited controversies about state secrecy and the suitability of drugs used to execute prisoners. It was the third time this year that a lethal injection procedure has gone wrong, following problems in Ohio and Oklahoma. | |
| “There has to be a thorough and independent review of what happened here and the Arizona execution protocol,” Dale Baich, a member of Wood’s legal team, told the Guardian. | “There has to be a thorough and independent review of what happened here and the Arizona execution protocol,” Dale Baich, a member of Wood’s legal team, told the Guardian. |
| Wood was put to death using an experimental combination of midazolam and hydromorphone, the same drugs used to kill Dennis McGuire in Ohio in January. McGuire took 26 minutes to die, and witnesses said he gasped for air and snorted loudly. | Wood was put to death using an experimental combination of midazolam and hydromorphone, the same drugs used to kill Dennis McGuire in Ohio in January. McGuire took 26 minutes to die, and witnesses said he gasped for air and snorted loudly. |
| Midazolam, meant to act as a sedative, was also used by Oklahoma in April. Officials had trouble administering the drugs into a vein and Clayton Lockett writhed on the gurney before dying of an apparent heart attack after 43 minutes. | Midazolam, meant to act as a sedative, was also used by Oklahoma in April. Officials had trouble administering the drugs into a vein and Clayton Lockett writhed on the gurney before dying of an apparent heart attack after 43 minutes. |
| “We were concerned that the mixture of midazolam and hydromorphone had only been used in one prior execution and that did not turn out well, so we were very concerned about that and that’s why we asked as one of our requests: how did the state come up with the formula that it was using?” Baich said. | “We were concerned that the mixture of midazolam and hydromorphone had only been used in one prior execution and that did not turn out well, so we were very concerned about that and that’s why we asked as one of our requests: how did the state come up with the formula that it was using?” Baich said. |
| Wood, 55, was pronounced dead at 3.49pm local time, one hour and 57 minutes after the start of the procedure. “The courts have ordered that all evidence be preserved including blood and tissue samples as well as labels and any residual drugs that remain,” Baich said. | Wood, 55, was pronounced dead at 3.49pm local time, one hour and 57 minutes after the start of the procedure. “The courts have ordered that all evidence be preserved including blood and tissue samples as well as labels and any residual drugs that remain,” Baich said. |
| Wood's execution lasted so long that his lawyers filed an emergency court motion in an attempt to stop it. A judge held a telephone hearing, a transcript of which was published on Thursday, but Wood died while the hearing was still under way. | Wood's execution lasted so long that his lawyers filed an emergency court motion in an attempt to stop it. A judge held a telephone hearing, a transcript of which was published on Thursday, but Wood died while the hearing was still under way. |
| Jan Brewer, the Republican governor of Arizona, said she was concerned by the length of the execution and ordered Arizona prison officials to conduct a review, but insisted the execution was lawful. | |
| She said in a statement: “I am concerned by the length of time it took for the administered drug protocol to complete the lawful execution of the convicted double murderer, Joseph Wood. While justice was carried out today, I directed the department of corrections to conduct a full review of the process. | She said in a statement: “I am concerned by the length of time it took for the administered drug protocol to complete the lawful execution of the convicted double murderer, Joseph Wood. While justice was carried out today, I directed the department of corrections to conduct a full review of the process. |
| “One thing is certain, however, inmate Wood died in a lawful manner and by eyewitness and medical accounts he did not suffer. This is in stark comparison to the gruesome, vicious suffering that he inflicted on his two victims – and the lifetime of suffering he has caused their family.” | “One thing is certain, however, inmate Wood died in a lawful manner and by eyewitness and medical accounts he did not suffer. This is in stark comparison to the gruesome, vicious suffering that he inflicted on his two victims – and the lifetime of suffering he has caused their family.” |
| Senator McCain, in remarks quoted by Politico, was outspoken in his reaction. "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. "The lethal injection needs to be an indeed lethal injection and not the bollocks-upped situation that just prevailed. That’s torture." McCain was a victim of torture when he was captured by the North Vietnamese during the Vietnam war. | |
| Wood was executed for shooting to death Debra Dietz, his former girlfriend, and her father, Eugene Dietz, in Tucson in 1989. | Wood was executed for shooting to death Debra Dietz, his former girlfriend, and her father, Eugene Dietz, in Tucson in 1989. |
| After the execution, Debra Dietz's sister told the Associated Press: “What I saw today with him being executed, it is nothing compared to what happened on August 7, 1989,” Jeanne Brown said. “What's excruciating is seeing your father lying there in a pool of blood, seeing your sister lying in a pool of blood.” | After the execution, Debra Dietz's sister told the Associated Press: “What I saw today with him being executed, it is nothing compared to what happened on August 7, 1989,” Jeanne Brown said. “What's excruciating is seeing your father lying there in a pool of blood, seeing your sister lying in a pool of blood.” |
| Charles Ryan, director of Arizona’s department of corrections, said in a statement: “Once the inmate was sedated, other than sonorous respiration, or snoring, he did not grimace or make any further movement. Throughout this execution, I conferred and collaborated with our IV team members and was assured unequivocally that the inmate was comatose and never in pain or distress.” | Charles Ryan, director of Arizona’s department of corrections, said in a statement: “Once the inmate was sedated, other than sonorous respiration, or snoring, he did not grimace or make any further movement. Throughout this execution, I conferred and collaborated with our IV team members and was assured unequivocally that the inmate was comatose and never in pain or distress.” |
| Arizona’s previous execution, when Robert Jones was given a lethal injection of the barbiturate pentobarbital last October, took 17 minutes from administration of the dose to the time he was pronounced dead. | Arizona’s previous execution, when Robert Jones was given a lethal injection of the barbiturate pentobarbital last October, took 17 minutes from administration of the dose to the time he was pronounced dead. |
| The drugs shrouded in secrecy | The drugs shrouded in secrecy |
| The botched executions followed a European-led boycott of the US death penalty that has blocked key drugs used in executions from reaching departments of correction. As supplies have run short, and expired, states have resorted to untried improvisations while insisting on hiding the identities of their suppliers in order to keep supply lines open. | The botched executions followed a European-led boycott of the US death penalty that has blocked key drugs used in executions from reaching departments of correction. As supplies have run short, and expired, states have resorted to untried improvisations while insisting on hiding the identities of their suppliers in order to keep supply lines open. |
| Baich said Arizona prison officials told Wood’s lawyers that the execution would be carried out using higher dosages than Ohio employed in McGuire’s death, but refused to disclose the source of the drugs. | Baich said Arizona prison officials told Wood’s lawyers that the execution would be carried out using higher dosages than Ohio employed in McGuire’s death, but refused to disclose the source of the drugs. |
| “We asked for that information. We were stonewalled, we went to court, and a federal appeals court ordered the department of corrections to turn that information over to us [but] the US supreme court vacated that order,” Baich said. | “We asked for that information. We were stonewalled, we went to court, and a federal appeals court ordered the department of corrections to turn that information over to us [but] the US supreme court vacated that order,” Baich said. |
| The transcript of the application for an emergency stay of execution reveals that Wood's lawyer, a representative of the state of Arizona, and a judge discussed the situation for 30 minutes. Wood's lawyer, Robin Konrad, argued that the execution should be stopped because he was not dead more than an hour after the procedure began. | The transcript of the application for an emergency stay of execution reveals that Wood's lawyer, a representative of the state of Arizona, and a judge discussed the situation for 30 minutes. Wood's lawyer, Robin Konrad, argued that the execution should be stopped because he was not dead more than an hour after the procedure began. |
| The judge, Neil Wake, said at one point that he was minded to grant the stay but feared it would do "more harm than good", after hearing a claim from the assistant attorney general, Jeffrey Zick, that Wood was "brain dead". Zick conceded however that the determination of Wood's brain activity was only a "visual" one. The judge was then told that Wood had died, and decided not to grant the stay of execution as it was "moot". | The judge, Neil Wake, said at one point that he was minded to grant the stay but feared it would do "more harm than good", after hearing a claim from the assistant attorney general, Jeffrey Zick, that Wood was "brain dead". Zick conceded however that the determination of Wood's brain activity was only a "visual" one. The judge was then told that Wood had died, and decided not to grant the stay of execution as it was "moot". |
| In common with an increasing number of states who have reacted to the growing contentiousness of lethal injections by seeking to shroud details in secrecy, Arizona revealed little information about the drugs ahead of Wood’s execution. | In common with an increasing number of states who have reacted to the growing contentiousness of lethal injections by seeking to shroud details in secrecy, Arizona revealed little information about the drugs ahead of Wood’s execution. |
| That prompted a legal challenge on the basis that the state’s failure to disclose information, such as the makers, was a violation of his constitutional rights. The US supreme court ultimately overturned a stay of execution for Wood.Litigation brought against Ohio by McGuire’s family questioning the constitutionality of his execution is ongoing. | That prompted a legal challenge on the basis that the state’s failure to disclose information, such as the makers, was a violation of his constitutional rights. The US supreme court ultimately overturned a stay of execution for Wood.Litigation brought against Ohio by McGuire’s family questioning the constitutionality of his execution is ongoing. |
| Mauricio Morin, a Tucson journalist who witnessed the execution, told the Guardian that Wood had appeared to be sedated with his eyes closed. But he said in an email that Wood was “gulping or gasping for air. His stomach moved at times while the gulping/gasping for air as if one would while breathing laying down.” | Mauricio Morin, a Tucson journalist who witnessed the execution, told the Guardian that Wood had appeared to be sedated with his eyes closed. But he said in an email that Wood was “gulping or gasping for air. His stomach moved at times while the gulping/gasping for air as if one would while breathing laying down.” |
| Maya Foa, of anti-death penalty group Reprieve, said: “The state of Arizona had every reason to believe that this procedure would not go smoothly; the experimental execution ‘cocktail’ had only been used once before, and that execution too was terribly botched. Despite the evidence, the state pushed ahead, jettisoning due process and cloaking the procedure in secrecy. The result was an exercise in torture.” | Maya Foa, of anti-death penalty group Reprieve, said: “The state of Arizona had every reason to believe that this procedure would not go smoothly; the experimental execution ‘cocktail’ had only been used once before, and that execution too was terribly botched. Despite the evidence, the state pushed ahead, jettisoning due process and cloaking the procedure in secrecy. The result was an exercise in torture.” |
| Oklahoma and Ohio have not executed any other prisoners since the controversial deaths, but Ronald Phillips is scheduled to die in Ohio in September. Arizona does not have any other executions currently scheduled. Wood was the 26th prisoner to be put to death in the US this year. | Oklahoma and Ohio have not executed any other prisoners since the controversial deaths, but Ronald Phillips is scheduled to die in Ohio in September. Arizona does not have any other executions currently scheduled. Wood was the 26th prisoner to be put to death in the US this year. |
| The chief judge of the 9th circuit federal appeals court, Alex Kozinski, told the Guardian that he was not surprised by what had happened. “I have seen this coming for a long time. It's hard to watch these executions and not realise that these blunders are bound to happen,” he said. | The chief judge of the 9th circuit federal appeals court, Alex Kozinski, told the Guardian that he was not surprised by what had happened. “I have seen this coming for a long time. It's hard to watch these executions and not realise that these blunders are bound to happen,” he said. |
| Alex Kozinski, a federal appeals judge on the court that initially ruled in favour of the stay, said before Wood’s death that lethal injections should be replaced by firing squads and that the public should stop trying to delude itself that lethal injection was a serene method, realise the inherent brutality of executions and accept a more efficient process. “I personally think we should go to the guillotine, but shooting is probably the right way to go,” he said. | Alex Kozinski, a federal appeals judge on the court that initially ruled in favour of the stay, said before Wood’s death that lethal injections should be replaced by firing squads and that the public should stop trying to delude itself that lethal injection was a serene method, realise the inherent brutality of executions and accept a more efficient process. “I personally think we should go to the guillotine, but shooting is probably the right way to go,” he said. |
| In his dissenting opinion to the stay of execution issued by the appeals court this week, Kozinski argued that the use in executions of drugs designed to help sick people was an “enterprise doomed to failure”. On Wednesday, he told the Guardian that he had thought about the problems with lethal injections for a long time, and that though his criticisms were not geared specifically to the Wood case in particular, he had decided it was time to speak out. | In his dissenting opinion to the stay of execution issued by the appeals court this week, Kozinski argued that the use in executions of drugs designed to help sick people was an “enterprise doomed to failure”. On Wednesday, he told the Guardian that he had thought about the problems with lethal injections for a long time, and that though his criticisms were not geared specifically to the Wood case in particular, he had decided it was time to speak out. |
| The use of such drugs was, he said, “a complicated process that is not designed for executions. I had no idea how this would go down in the Wood case, but it's obvious that this is the kind of process where there tends to be these kinds of problems.” | The use of such drugs was, he said, “a complicated process that is not designed for executions. I had no idea how this would go down in the Wood case, but it's obvious that this is the kind of process where there tends to be these kinds of problems.” |