Lethal Drug Expert: “Nebraska is unlikely to ever carry out an execution even if voters bring back the death penalty”

"Tens of thousands of dollars evaporated into thin air."

Senator asks State Auditor for investigation of missing $54k spent on illegal drugs

LINCOLN, NE – A law professor who is recognized as an expert in lethal injection drugs said today that even if Nebraskans vote to bring back the death penalty on November 8, it will be difficult for the State of Nebraska to obtain the drugs necessary to carry out a sentence.

“Pharmaceutical companies don’t want their products used in executions and are taking steps to prevent states from using their medicines in this way. So it’s hard for states to get the drugs they need,” said Eric Berger, a University of Nebraska College of Law Professor. Berger has written extensively about lethal injection and in January 2009, testified before the Judiciary Committee of the Nebraska legislature about a bill to institute lethal injection.

Also on Thursday, Senator Burke Harr requested Nebraska State Auditor Charlie Janssen investigate the status of the $54,000 Governor Ricketts spent on illegal lethal injection drugs.

“At a time when the state is facing income shortfalls, and state agencies are being forced to tighten their belts, it’s unacceptable that we have allowed this administration to let tens of thousands of dollars evaporate into thin air,” Harr said.

“So today, I sent a letter to Nebraska State Auditor Charlie Janssen, asking his office to investigate the status of the $54,000 the Governor spent on illegal lethal injection drugs, and what is being done to recoup those state funds.”

State Senator Colby Coash also questioned the waste of funds.

“It’s been 17 months since Governor Ricketts declared a ‘solution’ to our state’s lethal injection quagmire and paid $54,000 for illegal lethal injection drugs we’ve never seen,” Coash said.

Berger said Nebraska has a track record of not fulfilling promises to carry out executions.

“Given its track record, Nebraska shouldn’t be trusted to be able to find the drugs. Indeed, time after time the State has promised to fix the problem, but it’s been nearly 20 years since Nebraska’s last execution, and state officials haven’t given any reason to think that they can get it right this time.”

“Additionally,” added Berger, “even if the State can somehow get the drugs, that doesn’t mean they will be able to get the drugs on a permanent basis. Drugs expire after a short time, so if voters reinstate the death penalty, Nebraska will face this problem of getting the right drugs over and over again.”

“It is unacceptable that the Governor is fighting so hard to have a death penalty system that he has been unable to enact for 17 months - and no one in the state has been able to enable in almost 20 years -- when we are being forced to cut other vital services,” Coash said.

“Last week, Corrections Director Frakes admitted there is an additional expense to housing death row inmates. This is in addition to the extra cost of 3-part death penalty trials, the Supreme Court mandated appeals only available in capital cases, and the costs of trying to get usable lethal injection drugs. These are the expensive components of our death penalty, which Creighton University economist Dr. Ernie Goss has shown costs the state an extra $14.6 million annually,” Coash said.

“The Nebraska State Patrol said the potential eight percent budget cut would require it to eliminate an estimated 28 sworn officer positions. Our symbolic death penalty law isn’t making our state any safer, but police officers do. This is an irresponsible use of resources.”

“There are more important things our state should be focusing our energies on. We can’t continue to waste time, energy, and money on the charade of a death penalty.”

“The cost of capital punishment, and our state’s continued inability to use the punishment, show the death penalty is dead wrong for Nebraska,” Coash said.

Source: Retain a Just Nebraska, october 6, 2016. Retain a Just Nebraska is a public education campaign to urge the retention of LB 268, the Nebraska Legislature’s vote to end the death penalty. Supporters include fiscal conservatives, law enforcement officials, faith leaders, murder victims’ families, and Nebraskans from all walks of life. It is a statewide coalition conducting public education on the smart alternative of life in prison without parole, which protects society without the many problems of our death penalty system.

⚑ | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; send a submission; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com.

Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE!

20 Minutes to Death: Witness to the Last Execution in France

The following document is a firsthand account of the final moments of Hamida Djandoubi, a convicted murderer executed by guillotine at Marseille’s Baumettes Prison on September 10, 1977. The record—dated September 9—was written by Monique Mabelly, a judge appointed by the state to witness the proceedings. Djandoubi’s execution would ultimately be the last carried out in France before capital punishment was abolished in 1981. At the time, President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing—who had publicly voiced his "deep aversion to the death penalty" prior to his election—rejected Djandoubi’s appeal for clemency. Choosing to let "justice take its course," the President allowed the execution to proceed, just as he had in two previous cases during his term: Christian Ranucci , executed on July 28, 1976 and Jérôme Carrein , executed on June 23, 1977. Hamida Djandoubi , a Tunisian national, was sentenced to death for killing his former lover, Elisabeth Bousquet. He was execu...

Texas: Dexter Darnell Johnson to die on August 15; Larry Ray Swearingen on August 21

Dexter Darnell Johnson's execution is scheduled to occur at 6 pm CDT, on Thursday, August 15, 2019, at the Walls Unit of the Huntsville State Penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas. 31-year-old Dexter is convicted of the murder of 23-year-old Maria Aparece and 17-year-old Huy Ngo on June 18, 2006, in Houston, Texas. Dexter has spent the last 11 years of his life on Texas’ death row. Dexter was born and raised in Texas. He dropped out of school following the 9th grade. During the early morning hours of June 18, 2006, Dexter Johnson and 4 of his friends, Ashley Ervin, Louis Ervin, Keithron Fields, and Timothy Randle, were driving around in Ashley’s car, looking for someone to rob. The group discovered Maria Aparece and Huy Ngo siting in Maria’s vehicle on the street. Johnson took a shot gun and stood outside the driver’s side door, threatening to shoot Maria if she did not cooperate. Johnson demanded she open the door, and when she did, he threw her into the ...

Florida executes Michael King

Killer of stay-at-home mom whose death led to 911 reform is executed Michael King kidnapped Denise Amber Lee from her Florida home in broad daylight in 2008. If it weren't for a botched 911 call, Lee may have survived the ordeal. Florida has executed a death row inmate for the rape and murder of a stay-at-home mom whose death exposed the vulnerabilities of the 911 system nationwide and led to reform within the industry. Michael King, 54, was executed by lethal injection on Tuesday, March 17, for the kidnapping, rape and murder of 21-year-old Denise Amber Lee. King abducted the married mother of 2 young sons from her home in broad daylight on Jan. 17, 2008, less than an hour before Lee's husband returned from work.

U.S. | These States Don’t Want You to See the Cruelty of Their Executions

The use of the death penalty has risen sharply in the United States, with more executions in 2025 than any year since 2009. It is a cruel and unjust development. In theory, the death penalty is reserved for “the worst of the worst.” In practice, it is very different. People who are executed for their crimes are disproportionately poor or intellectually disabled and often lacked good lawyers. They are also more likely to be sentenced to death if they have been convicted of killing a white person. Anthony Boyd, who maintained his innocence until Alabama executed him last year at age 54, had an inexperienced court-appointed lawyer and was convicted on disputed eyewitness testimony. Charles Flores, 56, has spent 27 years on death row in Texas for a murder conviction based solely on unreliable testimony from a hypnotized witness. Robert Roberson, who has autism, remains on death row there despite having been convicted on now-debunked evidence that he had shaken his daughter to death.

Alabama | Death row inmate granted clemency shares emotional message on day he was set to die

Alabama governor commuted death sentence of Charles Burton, 75, who didn't kill anyone An Alabama man who was outside a building when a man was killed in an armed robbery is looking at life as "a gift from God" after being granted clemency by the state’s governor just days before he was scheduled to be executed. Charles "Sonny" Burton, 75, was sentenced to death for his role in the robbery of a Talladega AutoZone store that left a man dead in 1991. While Burton left the store before Derrick DeBruce gunned down customer Doug Battle, he was tried and convicted as an accomplice, with prosecutors insisting Burton acted as the group’s leader in the armed robbery.

Texas executes Cedric Ricks

A Texas man was put to death Wednesday evening for fatally stabbing his girlfriend and her 8-year-old son in 2013, apologizing profusely to her older son who survived with multiple stab wounds and witnessed the execution. Cedric Ricks, 51, was pronounced dead at 6:55 p.m. CDT following a lethal dose of the sedative pentobarbital at the state penitentiary in Huntsville. He was condemned for the May 2013 killings of 30-year-old Roxann Sanchez and her son Anthony Figueroa at their apartment in the greater Dallas-Fort Worth suburb of Bedford. Sanchez’s 12-year-old son, Marcus Figueroa, was stabbed 25 times and feigned death in order to survive.

Iran hangs three men in first executions over January protests

Iran executed three men on Thursday who were accused of killing police officers during protests in January, with activists warning of the risk of a new surge in hangings as war rages with Israel and the United States. They were the first hangings Iran has carried out related to the nationwide demonstrations that were met with a brutal crackdown by the authorities. Rights groups said the trio, who included a teenager who had taken part in international wrestling competitions, were executed without a fair trial and had given confessions under torture.

Vietnam | 4 get death penalty in Ho Chi Minh City's drug trafficking ring

The People's Court of Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday sentenced four defendants to death for their roles in a large-scale drug trafficking ring in the city. Those receiving the death penalty for "illegal trading narcotic substances" were Nguyen Binh Dai (born in 1988), Mac Vinh Khiem (1991), Thai Duy Quang (1990), and Nguyen Binh Trieu (1972), all residents of HCMC. In the same case, Tran Tong Dung, born in 1974, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for illegal drug trading and storage. Huynh My Ngoc (2002), Thach Ngoc Yen Vy (2001), and Nguyen Dai Nghia (1997) received life sentences, while Pham Thanh Phuong (1997) from An Giang Province was sentenced to 20 years in jail for illegally transporting drugs.

Missouri Man Said DNA Test Could Prove Innocence. He Was Executed Before a Court Ruled.

Lance Shockley died by lethal injection last year. State courts have rejected prisoners’ requests for DNA testing in recent years. Lance Shockley, a man on death row in Missouri, wanted items from the crime scene to undergo DNA testing to potentially prove his innocence. The court scheduled proceedings on his request — but the date set was for two days after his execution. Patty Prewitt can’t have her DNA tested — and fully clear her name — because her sentence was commuted and she is no longer in prison. And others, including Lamar McVay, who is serving 30 years for a robbery, can’t even get an answer from the state on his DNA testing request. He's still awaiting a ruling on a motion he filed in September 2022.

Florida | Chadwick Willacy to be executed for burning Florida neighbor alive

A man convicted of the 1990 murder of his neighbor while burglarizing her home is scheduled to be the 6th person executed in Florida this year. Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday, March 13, issued a death warrant for Chadwick Willacy, 58. Willacy was in Marlys Sather's home when she arrived home from work unexpectedly. He struck her several times, tied her up, attempted to strangle her, and then set the house on fire after removing the smoke detectors and dousing her with gasoline, prosecutors said. Willacy's record to that point included some minor offenses in New York and Florida, mostly drug-related.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog