World Day Against the Death Penalty: Top five botched executions this year

Lethal injections are experimental and frequently botched - leading to an agonisingly painful death for prisoners. Reprieve is today calling on healthcare professionals to help us debunk the myth that this method is 'humane'.

Read our top five botched executions of the past 12 months. Help us stop them.

First, here's how it works: after an anaesthetic is injected to put the prisoner to sleep, a paralysing agent immobilises him until a massive overdose of potassium chloride stops his heart. If the first drug fails - often the dose is too low or the IV is not inserted properly - the prisoner remains awake but paralysed. The pain is excruciating - like "fire burning in the veins" - but the prisoner is frozen in silence, unable to move or cry out. This is a botched execution. The prisoner slowly suffocates in agony until the potassium chloride finally shocks the heart so severely it stops beating.

Now here's the top five botched executions of the past year:

1) BRANDON RHODE

September 27, 2010: Brandon Rhode is executed in Georgia. His eyes remain wide open. Doubts are raised over the way sodium thiopental was administered.

Dr Mark Heath declares in an affidavit: “If the thiopental was inadequately effective Mr. Rhode’s death would certainly have been agonizing,” he declared. “There is no dispute that the asphyxiation caused by pancuronium and the caustic burning sensation caused by potassium would be agonizing in the absence of adequate anesthesia.”

2) JEFFREY LANDRIGAN

October 10, 2010: It takes several minutes for Jeffrey Landrigan to die. He is executed with sodium thiopental sold by the fly-by-night British drug company Dream Pharma. It appeared the anaesthetic may not have worked. It took over 10 minutes for him to be pronounced dead.

3) EMANUEL HAMMOND

January 27, 2011: Emanuel Hammond is executed. Hammond closes his eyes, and then re-opens them later. Three witnesses expressed concern. Professor Sheri Johnson, who watched particularly intently because she knew there were doubts over the British thiopental’s efficacy, said “he closed his eyes perhaps ten seconds after the drugs started. But then, some time later, he opened them again”. Professor Johnson added that this was quite unlike three thiopental executions she had seen before, when the prisoners closed their eyes very quickly and remained “totally still”, apparently in a coma. Josh Green, a reporter with the Gwinnett Daily Post, confirms that Hammond first closed, and then re-opened his eyes some time after receiving the thiopental, while Jill Rand, a Florida nurse who became Hammond’s pen friend, said she saw him move his lips.

4) EDDIE DUVAL POWELL

June 15 2011: Eddie Duval Powell is executed by lethal injection in Alabama. Powell closes his eyes. He then opens them again later. Seemingly confused and startled, he jerked his head to one side and began breathing heavily, his chest rose and contracted.

5) ROY BLANKENSHIP

June 23, 2011: Roy Willard Blankenship is put to sleep by sodium thiopental, but dies with his eyes wide open. In a sworn affidavit, Dr David Waisel, an Associate Professor of Anaesthesia at Harvard Medical School, states: “…I can say with certainty that Mr. [Roy] Blankenship was inadequately anesthetized and was conscious for approximately the first three minutes of the execution and that he suffered greatly."

To learn how healthcare professionals can help stop execution by lethal injection please contact Maya Foa.

Dr David Nicholl, a British neurologist who has taken legal action against the use of the sedative pentobarbital, said: "The medical profession has already been quite explicit that pentobarbital has no role in executions. The use of this drug – which should only be used in an intensive care-type setting with full anaesthetic support – is nothing short of barbaric, and has resulted in botched executions. ”

Tineke Harris, Legal Director at Reprieve, said: “The idea that there is somehow a ‘humane’ way of executing people is one of the most dangerous myths surrounding the death penalty. Despite its quasi-medical appearance, the lethal injection procedure used in the US carries a high risk of causing serious pain and suffering to the prisoner. If the anaesthetic fails – as seems to happen far too often – the person being executed will remain conscious, but paralysed, as the final, excruciatingly painful injection is administered. Doctors, nurses and all other healthcare professionals must take a stand against the sham medical procedure that is lethal injection. We have seen before how much weight their words and action can carry – with their help, we can put a stop to it.”

Source: Reprieve, Emmanuelle Purdon, October 10, 2011

Comments

Iran: Flogging still a common practice

Flogging of Sufis in Gonabad: Fourteen Ne’matollahi dervishes received 25 lashes each for allegedly disturbing the public security "The lash ruling against 14 Ne'matollahi dervishes of Gonabad was carried out. They were residents of Baydokht and had been arrested and condemned by the Public Prosecutor of Gonabad after a protest against the illegal treatment dealing with the Sufis in June of last year [2010]. According to the website of Majzuban-e-Nur, Mr. Sa'id Kashani, Mr. Amir Roshan-Mojaver-Sufi, Mr. Alimohammad Amanian, Mr. Ruhollah Safari, Mr. Ali Abbasi-Baydokhti, Mr. Ebrahim Abbaszadeh, Mr. Mohammadali Ja'fari, Mr. Hossein Mahdavi, Mr. Hossein Abbaszadeh-Baydokhti, Mr. Rahmat Hosseini, Mr. Reza Kakhki, Mr. Behruz Mojaver-Sufi, Mr. Ali Mir, and Mr. Hassan Baluchi-Baydokhti are the fourteen dervishes whose requests were not only rejected, but who were condemned to 25 lashes for disturbing the public security. It should be mentioned that Ruhollah Safari, the ...

Japan’s Internet Wants Uchida Riko Executed. Here’s Why That Won’t Happen

This week, the prosecution in the case of a murder of a 17-year-old girl in Hokkaido came out with its sentencing recommendation. Japanese social media reacted by clamoring for the accused woman’s blood. But, while the facts of the case are heinous, the prosecutor’s decision not to seek the death penalty is grounded in long-standing precedent. Murdered for looking at the accused wrong Uchida Riko (内田梨瑚), 23, and her friends stand accused of murdering 17-year-old Murayama Runa (村山瑠奈) in Hokkaido’s Asahikawa. Prosecutors say the dispute began after Murayama posted a photo of Uchida to social media. They say Uchida’s group abducted the girl, made her undress, and then forced her to jump from a bridge.

Kansas AG urges governor to deny clemency to 8 sentenced to death

TOPEKA — Attorney General Kris Kobach on Tuesday urged the governor to deny clemency to Kansas inmates who have been sentenced to death. Eight of nine people sentenced to death in Kansas formally filed clemency requests in May, according to a press release from the Attorney General’s Office. Kobach urged Gov. Laura Kelly to reject them.

US | Conservative federal judge says death penalty for child sex crimes may be legal

June 24 (Reuters) - A conservative federal judge on Wednesday took the position that despite a 2008 U.S. Supreme Court ruling barring the death penalty for child rape, prosecutors today may be free to seek capital punishment in cases involving sexual offenses against children. St. Louis-based U.S. District Judge Joshua Divine, who was appointed to the bench only last year by Republican President Donald Trump, delivered his views in an unusual ‌court opinion issued on the same day he was set to sentence a Missouri man who faced a maximum prison term of 20 years.

Two men executed with AK-47 for raping and murdering boy, 12, in Yemen as children watch on

“Public execution is an even more grotesque violation of human rights, particularly in a country where the ability of the accused to obtain adequate legal representation and the coverage of the process is highly limited.” -- Human Rights Watch director Sarah Leah Whitson TWO pedophiles have been executed with AK-47s in front of a bloodthirsty crowd for raping and murdering a 12-year-old boy in Yemen. Chilling images show Wadah Refat and Mohamed Khaled being marched at gunpoint through the port city of Aden. Yemen is one of the few countries in the world where capital punishment is legal, and even children were in attendance to watch the gruesome event. Refat, 28, and Khaled, 31, were condemned for the abduction, rape, and murder of a young boy who was snatched after playing next to the house of one of the men. The pair reportedly dragged him into their home and raped him. When sentencing the pair, The Daily Star reported that the judge said, "After ...

Might Ohio use electric chair again?

Electric chair at Southern Ohio Correctional Facility The difficulty of obtaining drugs for executions has some Ohio legislators talking about alternatives, including the electric chair. "There are other options," said Rep. Jim Buchy, R-Greenville, a co-sponsor of legislation to keep the supplier of execution drugs secret. "Rope is cheap," said state Sen. Bill Seitz, R-Cincinnati. No one is seriously suggesting - at least not yet - taking "Old Sparky," Ohio's electric chair, out of retirement, or returning to hanging, which the state abandoned in 1897. But Ohio's problem with lethal-injection drugs is coming to a head: The scheduled Feb. 15 execution of Ronald Phillips is 90 days away. Legislators are rushing to pass House Bill 663 before the lame-duck legislative session ends on Dec. 31 so that the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction can obtain drugs it needs at least a month before the execution. The legisla...

I watched Ohio's last execution. Here's what it was like

As Gov. DeWine calls for Ohio to end capital punishment, the state’s last execution remains the one I witnessed in 2018 Inside Ohio's death house, there is a room for executions and separate witness rooms: one for those connected to the victim and another for those connected to the inmate. Windows separate the death chamber from those watching, the condemned from the living. I was there on July 18, 2018 – during Ohio’s most recent execution. Robert Van Hook was put to death that day for killing David Self in 1985. He sat on death row for three decades. I was one of three media witnesses to the execution.

Kuwait executes five convicted murderers after death sentences upheld by highest courts

Dubai: Kuwait has executed five men convicted of murder and other serious crimes after their death sentences were upheld by the country's highest courts and ratified by the Emir, the Public Prosecution said. The executions were carried out by hanging at the Central Prison after all legal procedures had been completed, according to a statement carried by local media. The public prosecution said the convicts had been granted all constitutional guarantees, including the right to defense and appeal throughout the investigation and trial process.

New Mississippi billboard warns criminals: ‘Firing squad is legal’

DESOTO COUNTY, Miss. (WREG) — A billboard standing on Interstate 55 southbound as you cross the Tennessee state line and enter Mississippi from Memphis is sending a grim message to those coming into the state. DeSoto County District Attorney Matthew Barton recently announced the new billboard campaign, which features the sign reading, “WELCOME TO MISSISSIPPI. WHERE THE FIRING SQUAD IS LEGAL. THINK TWICE.” It references Mississippi’s law permitting execution by firing squad under certain circumstances for inmates sentenced to death. Barton says this campaign is aimed at deterring violent crime and sends a direct message to criminals entering Mississippi.

Iran | Youth Hanged for Murder Based on Qassameh Ceremony

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 19 June 2026: Pejman Saedi, a Kurdish man convicted of murder based on a qassameh ceremony after being exonerated, was executed in Qorveh Prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Qorveh Prison on 12 January 2026. His identity has been established as Pejman Soltani, a 21-year-old Kurdish man from Dehgolan. He was arrested around three years ago and sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog