This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/22/arizona-change-execution-drug-protocol
The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Oklahoma allowed resume executions while Arizona searches for new drug combination | |
| (about 14 hours later) | |
| Oklahoma will be allowed to resume executions after a federal judge ruled on Monday that the state has learned from the bloody and prolonged death of Clayton Lockett. | Oklahoma will be allowed to resume executions after a federal judge ruled on Monday that the state has learned from the bloody and prolonged death of Clayton Lockett. |
| District judge Stephen Friot denied a request for a preliminary injunction, meaning that executions are set to begin again in the state, which has four scheduled between 15 January and 5 March. | District judge Stephen Friot denied a request for a preliminary injunction, meaning that executions are set to begin again in the state, which has four scheduled between 15 January and 5 March. |
| The state imposed a moratorium after Lockett, a 38-year-old convicted murderer, died on 29 April at the end of a botched 43-minute procedure that saw him strain and moan on the gurney in the state penitentiary. | The state imposed a moratorium after Lockett, a 38-year-old convicted murderer, died on 29 April at the end of a botched 43-minute procedure that saw him strain and moan on the gurney in the state penitentiary. |
| Attorneys for 21 death row inmates brought a lawsuit alleging that Oklahoma’s execution procedures were experimental and potentially violated the US constitution’s ban on “cruel and unusual” punishment. They argued that use of the sedative midazolam as the first in a three-drug protocol risked causing prisoners to feel sensations of suffocation and burning pain. | Attorneys for 21 death row inmates brought a lawsuit alleging that Oklahoma’s execution procedures were experimental and potentially violated the US constitution’s ban on “cruel and unusual” punishment. They argued that use of the sedative midazolam as the first in a three-drug protocol risked causing prisoners to feel sensations of suffocation and burning pain. |
| The state said the gruesome manner of Lockett’s death was an isolated incident caused not by the drugs but the failure to properly insert an intravenous line. They persuaded the judge that the episode would not be repeated because they have revised their plans, renovated the death chamber, purchased new equipment and retrained staff. | The state said the gruesome manner of Lockett’s death was an isolated incident caused not by the drugs but the failure to properly insert an intravenous line. They persuaded the judge that the episode would not be repeated because they have revised their plans, renovated the death chamber, purchased new equipment and retrained staff. |
| The first man set to die next month is Charles Warner, whose death by lethal injection had originally been scheduled for the same day as Lockett’s. | The first man set to die next month is Charles Warner, whose death by lethal injection had originally been scheduled for the same day as Lockett’s. |
| Oklahoma wants to use the three-drug combination it tried in Lockett’s execution but with midazolam at a dose five times higher than in April. Robert Patton, director of the department of corrections, told the court that Oklahoma intended to follow the same protocol as Florida. He argued it was constitutional because Florida has carried out 11 executions using midazolam, vecuronium bromide and potassium chloride, seemingly without serious complications. | Oklahoma wants to use the three-drug combination it tried in Lockett’s execution but with midazolam at a dose five times higher than in April. Robert Patton, director of the department of corrections, told the court that Oklahoma intended to follow the same protocol as Florida. He argued it was constitutional because Florida has carried out 11 executions using midazolam, vecuronium bromide and potassium chloride, seemingly without serious complications. |
| Like other states, Oklahoma has been unable to source its preferred drugs, such as pentobarbital, a sedative which is still used in Texas, home to the nation’s busiest death chamber. | Like other states, Oklahoma has been unable to source its preferred drugs, such as pentobarbital, a sedative which is still used in Texas, home to the nation’s busiest death chamber. |
| One doctor who testified for the state during the three-day hearing said that Oklahoma’s planned dosage of midazolam would probably be high enough by itself to cause rapid unconsciousness and death. However, the drug’s use in executions is controversial; it was also deployed in troubled procedures in Ohio and Arizona earlier this year. | One doctor who testified for the state during the three-day hearing said that Oklahoma’s planned dosage of midazolam would probably be high enough by itself to cause rapid unconsciousness and death. However, the drug’s use in executions is controversial; it was also deployed in troubled procedures in Ohio and Arizona earlier this year. |
| Arizona officials revealed on Monday that the state would abandon the two-drug midazolam and hydromorphone combination used during the execution of Joseph Wood last July. | Arizona officials revealed on Monday that the state would abandon the two-drug midazolam and hydromorphone combination used during the execution of Joseph Wood last July. |
| It took nearly two hours and 15 doses for Wood to die, according to official logs. Wood gasped hundreds of times and his lawyers said the execution was botched. But a review commissioned by the Arizona department of corrections and undertaken by CGL, a private prison design and management company, found that the state carried out the procedure in line with its protocols and that Wood was properly injected but reacted unexpectedly to the drugs. | It took nearly two hours and 15 doses for Wood to die, according to official logs. Wood gasped hundreds of times and his lawyers said the execution was botched. But a review commissioned by the Arizona department of corrections and undertaken by CGL, a private prison design and management company, found that the state carried out the procedure in line with its protocols and that Wood was properly injected but reacted unexpectedly to the drugs. |
| “This independent review concluded that at all times following the administration of the execution protocol the inmate was fully sedated, was totally unresponsive to stimuli and, as a result, did not suffer,” said department of corrections director Charles Ryan said. | “This independent review concluded that at all times following the administration of the execution protocol the inmate was fully sedated, was totally unresponsive to stimuli and, as a result, did not suffer,” said department of corrections director Charles Ryan said. |
| “In fact, the Pima County medical examiner is cited as reporting that the breathing pattern exhibited by the inmate prior to his death is a normal bodily response to dying, even in someone highly sedated.” | “In fact, the Pima County medical examiner is cited as reporting that the breathing pattern exhibited by the inmate prior to his death is a normal bodily response to dying, even in someone highly sedated.” |
| It was not a view shared by Arizona senator John McCain in July, when he told Politico the execution was a “bollocks-upped situation” that amounted to “torture”. | It was not a view shared by Arizona senator John McCain in July, when he told Politico the execution was a “bollocks-upped situation” that amounted to “torture”. |
| Arizona’s prisons agency will aim to obtain pentobarbital and sodium pentothal, a barbiturate. If it cannot find them, it will use a three-drug combination potentially including midazolam. The state has not put anyone to death since Wood and does not have any executions scheduled. | Arizona’s prisons agency will aim to obtain pentobarbital and sodium pentothal, a barbiturate. If it cannot find them, it will use a three-drug combination potentially including midazolam. The state has not put anyone to death since Wood and does not have any executions scheduled. |
| Jennifer Moreno, staff attorney at the Berkeley Law Death Penalty Clinic, said the Arizona report is “the first step in uncovering what happened during Mr. Wood’s execution and assessing what steps need to be taken to ensure that no other prisoners are subjected to a similarly flawed and inappropriate process.” | |
| “The state should make public all the documentation and interview transcripts that were collected during the investigation and that informed the findings,” she said. “The next step is to allow for objective exploration of the all the evidence through discovery supervised by the courts.” | |
| Lockett’s execution was Oklahoma’s first using midazolam. Joseph Cohen, a pathologist hired by Lockett’s legal team, testified that he believed the prisoner suffered and “had been deemed unconscious but became conscious again”. | Lockett’s execution was Oklahoma’s first using midazolam. Joseph Cohen, a pathologist hired by Lockett’s legal team, testified that he believed the prisoner suffered and “had been deemed unconscious but became conscious again”. |
| Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, said midazolam was associated with “disastrous consequences” in three executions this year. | |
| Midazolam was used in the executions of Lockett, Wood and Dennis McGuire. McGuire took more than 20 minutes to die in January in Ohio. | |
| “I don’t think we know what all the causes were ... The evidence seems to be (midazolam) could have its own problems separate from how the drugs are inserted,” Dieter said. | |
| An anesthesiologist, David Lubarsky, said that boosting the dose of midazolam may make no difference because it has a “ceiling effect” which means that it is only effective up to a point, after which continuing to administer it makes no difference. He said that Lockett may have felt a progressive suffocation and an intense pain that has “been described as liquid fire”. | An anesthesiologist, David Lubarsky, said that boosting the dose of midazolam may make no difference because it has a “ceiling effect” which means that it is only effective up to a point, after which continuing to administer it makes no difference. He said that Lockett may have felt a progressive suffocation and an intense pain that has “been described as liquid fire”. |
| Other problems, doctors testified, include midazolam’s lack of analgesic properties and the risk of a “paradoxical reaction” which might cause not sedation but anxiety, hyperactivity and aggression in certain people. | Other problems, doctors testified, include midazolam’s lack of analgesic properties and the risk of a “paradoxical reaction” which might cause not sedation but anxiety, hyperactivity and aggression in certain people. |
| Documents and testimony laid bare the lack of training, research, proper equipment and contingency plans in the weeks before Lockett’s death and on the day itself. | Documents and testimony laid bare the lack of training, research, proper equipment and contingency plans in the weeks before Lockett’s death and on the day itself. |
| Oklahoma officials said they had felt political pressure to carry out the executions on time, causing the state to scramble to find drugs. Michael Oakley, former general counsel for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, said he did online drug research on “WikiLeaks or whatever it is”. | Oklahoma officials said they had felt political pressure to carry out the executions on time, causing the state to scramble to find drugs. Michael Oakley, former general counsel for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, said he did online drug research on “WikiLeaks or whatever it is”. |
| Execution workers repeatedly failed to place an IV line in Lockett’s body. An attempt to set a line in Lockett’s groin area hit an artery and caused blood to squirt out. In a court filing, the warden, Anita Trammell, called the scene inside the death chamber a “bloody mess”. | Execution workers repeatedly failed to place an IV line in Lockett’s body. An attempt to set a line in Lockett’s groin area hit an artery and caused blood to squirt out. In a court filing, the warden, Anita Trammell, called the scene inside the death chamber a “bloody mess”. |
| Last week, a paramedic involved in the execution said that “black people have smaller veins than white people” and inmates “are very muscular and they have a very strong heart and it takes a while for that heart to realise that it doesn’t have to beat anymore”. | Last week, a paramedic involved in the execution said that “black people have smaller veins than white people” and inmates “are very muscular and they have a very strong heart and it takes a while for that heart to realise that it doesn’t have to beat anymore”. |
| After about 15 minutes, blinds were drawn to hide the scene from witnesses. Senior state officials decided to stop the procedure but Lockett died anyway from the effects of the drugs, an autopsy found. It was not the first problematic execution in Oklahoma in 2014. | After about 15 minutes, blinds were drawn to hide the scene from witnesses. Senior state officials decided to stop the procedure but Lockett died anyway from the effects of the drugs, an autopsy found. It was not the first problematic execution in Oklahoma in 2014. |
| The state’s new measures call for increased public access restrictions including a reduction in the number of witnesses from 12 to five. In a separate case, a federal judge last Friday dismissed a lawsuit backed by the Guardian and other media outlets which argued that Oklahoma’s limitations violated first amendment rights. | The state’s new measures call for increased public access restrictions including a reduction in the number of witnesses from 12 to five. In a separate case, a federal judge last Friday dismissed a lawsuit backed by the Guardian and other media outlets which argued that Oklahoma’s limitations violated first amendment rights. |
| On Monday, it was announced that the Tulsa World newspaper and reporter Ziva Branstetter had filed a lawsuit seeking access to information related to Lockett’s execution after public records requests were not met. | On Monday, it was announced that the Tulsa World newspaper and reporter Ziva Branstetter had filed a lawsuit seeking access to information related to Lockett’s execution after public records requests were not met. |