Questions arise concerning future methods of carrying out the death penalty after an Arizona execution took nearly two hours, on Wednesday.
The execution of double-murderer Joseph Wood was conducted using a two-drug cocktail that the state had never tried before.
As NBC reports, everything began normal with doctors administering an IV into one of Wood’s veins and the condemned killer delivering his final words.
“I take comfort knowing today my pain stops, and I said a prayer that on this or any other day you may find peace in all of your hearts, and may God forgive you all.”
However, as NBC continues, things abruptly took a turn for the worst.
Then, as the dose was administered, Wood closed his eyes and appeared sedated. But after a few minutes, witnesses said, they could see something was wrong.
“It was almost like snoring,” Associated Press reporter Astrid Galvan said. “It looked like he was yawning almost.”
Wood would go on to gasp more than 600 times over the course of an hour and 40 minutes, witnesses said. One witness likened it to the movements a fish makes when it’s taken out of water.
“At a certain point you wondered if he ever was going to die,” reporter Troy Hayden said.
The Arizona Dept. of Corrections has stated that Wood was checked eight times by the medical team, adding that in their assessment he was “deeply sedated” or “comatose” and “never in pain or distress.”
However, Wood’s federal public defender, Dale Baich, told NBC News: “I’ve never witnessed an execution that took that long. The state of Arizona today conducted a failed experiment. … It was horrible to watch.”
Midway through the execution, Baich filed papers in federal court requesting a halt to the execution, but Wood was pronounced dead before the court could act.
A statement from Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne noted: “The execution commenced at 1:52 p.m. at the Arizona State Prison Complex (ASPC) — Florence. He was pronounced dead at 3:49 p.m.”
Jan Brewer, the Governor of Arizona, has called for a review of the execution and the ACLU is calling for a moratorium on further executions until states can insure their executions can proceed as intended.
As NBC reports, at least two other recent executions using new cocktails have drawn scrutiny because of complications.
When Michael Lee Wilson, 38, was put to death in January in Oklahoma for the murder of a store clerk, he reportedly blurted out, “My whole body is burning,” after the pentobarbital was injected.
In Ohio, Dennis McGuire, 53, took 25 minutes to die and appeared to gasp for breath in January when given an untested cocktail that included midazolam. The state put another execution on hold while it reviewed what was seen by some as a botched procedure.
President Obama ordered Attorney General Eric Holder to review execution protocols and so far the U.S. Supreme Court has refused to issue in a case where an inmate was challenging drug secrecy.
Deborah Denno, professor of criminal law and criminal procedure at Fordham Law School, told The Associated Press it may be up to Legislatures or the public to bring any change. “I think every time one of these botches happens, it leads to questioning the death penalty even more,” she said. “It will reach a point where the public will question the value of these execution procedures generally, and perhaps the death penalty itself.”
You must be logged in to post a comment Login