Kentucky executions could be delayed months, official says

If Kentucky is to continue executing death row inmates, it must find a new source of a drug used in lethal injections or revise the rules to substitute another drug.

The state has lost its supplier of sodium thiopental, an anesthetic used in executions.

Changing the mix of drugs used in an execution would require revising state regulations, a process that would take time and open the door for challenges by defense attorneys and anti-death penalty advocates.

The changes and challenges could take much of the year to resolve, said the Rev. Pat Delahanty, chairman of the Kentucky Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.

"I don't think there'll be executions in 2011" in Kentucky, Delahanty said.

Hospira, a Lake Forest, Ill., company, announced last week it would not resume production of sodium thiopental.

Kentucky and other states use the chemical as the 1st one injected during an execution, to render the condemned person unconscious, followed by 2 other drugs to stop the inmate's breathing and heart.

Hospira was the only U.S. provider of sodium thiopental, which nearly all the states with the death penalty use in executions, said Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center.

The announcement caught officials in Kentucky and elsewhere by surprise.

"Hospira repeatedly told us that the drug would be available in the 1st quarter of this year," said Lisa Lamb, spokeswoman for the state Department of Corrections. "Since their announcement, we are gathering information on the availability of the drug and are exploring our options."

The state searched unsuccessfully last year for another source of sodium thiopental.

Dieter said he thinks most states will switch to another anesthetic for the executions.

Kentucky's execution regulation, however, specifies the use of sodium thiopental in combination with two other drugs.

That means if the state substitutes another anesthetic or switches to using a single drug, as some states are considering, it would have to put a new regulation into effect.

Dieter said he expects executions to slow down across the nation as states make changes and, inevitably, face lawsuits by death-penalty opponents.

"It's going to take some months, maybe a year" to resolve the issues, he said. "Everywhere, there's going to be challenges."

The inability to get sodium thiopental won't immediately delay any executions in Kentucky. The state is under a court order not to carry out executions.

That order came in a challenge to the state's attempt to execute Gregory Wilson last September.

Wilson was convicted of kidnapping, raping and killing Debbie Pooley, 36, in Northern Kentucky in 1987.

After Gov. Steve Beshear set Wilson's execution for Sept. 16, Wilson's attorneys joined a challenge to the state's execution protocol by other death row inmates.

Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd ruled that the regulation spelling out how the state will execute someone conflicted with state law.

The judge also said the protocol doesn't include adequate safeguards to prevent executing a person who is mentally retarded, which is against the law.

Wilson's attorneys have argued the only known test of Wilson's mental capacity showed he was retarded.

Shepherd issued an order barring the state from executing anyone.

The court fight over that order continues.

It will be resolved eventually, however, and state officials on both sides of the death-penalty issue are trying to figure out how to respond to difficulties in getting sodium thiopental.

"The question will be, what process do we have going forward?" said Tim Arnold, a supervisor at the state Department for Public Advocacy.

Some states have explored getting sodium thiopental from other countries.

That would raise a concern about the quality of the drug from foreign sources, Arnold said.

Kentucky has not looked to foreign sources for the drug in the past, said Jennifer Brislin, spokeswoman for the state Justice and Public Safety Cabinet.

Shelley Johnson, spokeswoman for state Attorney General Jack Conway, said 4 Death row inmates are at the stage in their appeals that Conway could ask Beshear to set execution dates for them.

They include Wilson; Ralph Baze, who was convicted of killing Powell County Sheriff Steve Bennett and Deputy Arthur Briscoe in 1992 as they tried to arrest him; and Robert Foley, convicted of murdering 6 people in Laurel County in 2 separate cases.

Johnson declined to identify the 4th man.

Death-penalty opponents hope the shortage of sodium thiopental for executions will create momentum for their call to end executions.

"Lacking the drugs to carry out the death penalty is added evidence that the system is broken," said Delahanty. "Finding another drug, which would require going through the whole regulatory process again, and wasting taxpayer dollars on more litigation, would be the wrong way to go and continue to undermine the credibility of our justice system."

Delahanty said the state law allowing life without parole is enough to protect the public and punish heinous murderers.

Others, however, noted that many people support the death penalty.

States will continue to look for sources of drugs to carry out executions, said Dieter.

"I don't think this is the end of the death penalty," he said.

Source: kentucky.com, January 28, 2011

_________________________

Use the tags below or the search engine at the top of this page to find updates, older or related articles on this Website.

Comments

Singapore executes three drug mules over two days

Singapore hanged three people for drug offences last week, bringing the total number of executions to 17 this year - the highest since 2003. These come a week before a constitutional challenge against the death penalty for drug offences is due to be heard. Singapore has some of the world's harshest anti-drug laws, which it says are a necessary deterrent to drug crime, a major issue elsewhere in South East Asia. Anyone convicted of trafficking - which includes selling, giving, transporting or administering - more than 15g of diamorphine, 30g of cocaine, 250g of methamphetamine and 500g of cannabis in Singapore will be handed the death sentence.

Florida | After nearly 50 years on death row, Tommy Zeigler seeks final chance at freedom

The Winter Garden Police chief was at a party on Christmas Eve 1975 when he received a phone call from his friend Tommy Zeigler, the owner of a furniture store on Dillard Street. “I’ve been shot, please hurry,” Zeigler told the chief as he struggled for breath. When police arrived at the store, Zeigler, 30, managed to unlock the door and then collapsed “with a gaping bullet hole through his lower abdomen,” court records show. In the store, detectives found a gruesome, bloody crime scene and several guns. Four other people — Zeigler’s wife, his in-laws and a laborer — lay dead.

Louisiana death row inmate freed after nearly 30 years as overturned conviction upends case

A Louisiana man who spent nearly 30 years on death row walked out of prison Wednesday after a judge overturned his conviction and granted him bail. Jimmie Duncan, now in his 60s, was sentenced to death in 1998 for the alleged rape and drowning of his girlfriend’s 23-month-old daughter, Haley Oliveaux — a case long clouded by disputed forensic testimony. His release comes months after a state judge ruled that the evidence prosecutors used to secure the conviction was unreliable and rooted in discredited bite-mark analysis.

Oklahoma board recommends clemency for inmate set to be executed next week

A voting board in Oklahoma decided Wednesday to recommend clemency for Tremane Wood, a death row inmate who is scheduled to receive a lethal injection next week at the state penitentiary in McAlester. Wood, 46, faces execution for his conviction in the 2001 murder of Ronnie Wipf, a migrant farmworker, at an Oklahoma City hotel on New Year's Eve, court records show. The recommendation was decided in a 3-2 vote by the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board, consisting of five members appointed by either the governor or the state's top judicial official, according to CBS News affiliate KWTV. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Sitt will consider the recommendation as he weighs whether to grant or deny Wood's clemency request, which would mean sparing him from execution and reducing his sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Vietnam | Woman sentenced to death for poisoning 4 family members with cyanide

A woman in Dong Nai Province in southern Vietnam was sentenced to death on Thursday for killing family members including two young children in a series of cyanide poisonings that shocked her community. The Dong Nai People's Court found 39-year-old Nguyen Thi Hong Bich guilty of murder and of illegally possessing and using toxic chemicals. Judges described her actions as "cold-blooded, inhumane and calculated," saying Bich exploited the trust of her victims and "destroyed every ethical bond within her family."

Afghanistan | Two Sons Of Executed Man Also Face Death Penalty, Says Taliban

The Taliban governor’s spokesperson in Khost said on Tuesday that two sons of a man executed earlier that day have also been sentenced to death. Their executions, he said, have been postponed because the heir of the victims is not currently in Afghanistan. Mostaghfer Gurbaz, spokesperson for the Taliban governor in Khost, also released details of the charges against the man executed on Tuesday, identified as Mangal. He said Mangal was accused of killing members of a family.

Afghanistan's Taliban rulers carry out public execution in sports stadium

The man had been convicted of killing 13 members of a family, including children, and was executed by one of their relatives, according to police. Afghanistan's Taliban authorities carried out the public execution of a man on Tuesday convicted of killing 13 members of a family, including several children, earlier this year. Tens of thousands of people attended the execution at a sports stadium in the eastern city of Khost, which the Supreme Court said was the eleventh since the Taliban seized power in 2021 in the wake of the chaotic withdrawal of US and NATO forces.

Utah | Ralph Menzies dies on death row less than 3 months after his execution was called off

Judge was set to consider arguments in December about Menzies’ mental fitness Ralph Menzies, who spent more than 3 decades on Utah’s death row for the 1986 murder of Maurine Hunsaker, has died. Menzies, 67, died of “presumed natural causes at a local hospital” Wednesday afternoon, according to the Utah Department of Corrections. Matt Hunsaker, Maurine Hunsaker’s son, said Menzies’ death “was a complete surprise.” “First off, I’d say that I’m numb. And second off, I would say, grateful,” Hunsaker told Utah News Dispatch. “I’m grateful that my family does not have to endure this for the holidays.”

Iran carries out public hanging of "double-rapist"

Iran on Tuesday publicly executed a man after convicting him of raping two women in the northern province of Semnan. The execution was carried out in the town of Bastam after the Supreme Court upheld the verdict, the judiciary's official outlet Mizan Online reported. Mizan cited the head of the provincial judiciary, Mohammad Akbari, as saying the ruling had been 'confirmed and enforced after precise review by the Supreme Court'. The provincial authority said the man had 'deceived two women and committed rape by force and coercion', adding that he used 'intimidation and threats' to instil fear of reputational harm in the victims.

Burkina Faso to bring back death penalty

Burkina Faso's military rulers will bring back the death penalty, which was abolished in 2018, the country's Council of Ministers announced on Thursday. "This draft penal code reinstates the death penalty for a number of offences, including high treason, acts of terrorism, acts of espionage, among others," stated the information service of the Burkinabe government. Burkina Faso last carried out an execution in 1988.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog