Nebraska: Feds say no to execution drug

State officials said Wednesday they are seeking a new supply of a controversial lethal-injection drug after determining that they probably can't use drugs obtained from an Indian pharmaceutical company.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration informed state corrections officials in early April that Nebraska lacked authority to import controlled substances such as sodium thiopental, a powerful sedative used in lethal-injection executions.

That led corrections officials and the Nebraska Attorney General's Office to decide that the state should obtain the proper import permits and seek a new source of the drug to carry out the death penalty.

The problem with the Indian drug purchase raises the prospect of further delays in the execution of double-murderer Carey Dean Moore.

Moore, 53, was sentenced to die for the execution-style murders of two Omaha cab drivers in 1979, but he has won several stays of that sentence over the years.

Attorney General Jon Bruning asked the Nebraska Supreme Court in January to set a new execution date. On April 21 [--] 10 days after the state learned of DEA's problem with the sodium thiopental the high court set a June 14 execution date for Moore.

But the execution was stayed May 25 after Moore's attorneys raised questions about the quality of the drug Nebraska obtained from Kayem Pharmaceuticals of Mumbai, India.

Moore's attorney, Jerry Soucie, said he was very concerned that the Attorney General's Office did not disclose the drug problem earlier as it was seeking to execute his client.

“I find that to be the most troubling aspect of this case,” Soucie said.

David Cookson, chief deputy attorney general, said his office didn't believe such disclosure was necessary.

Cookson said the office was confident the state would either obtain a new supply of sodium thiopental or be able to rectify the problem with the drugs it bought from India in January.

“As a result, we had nothing to inform the court,” he said. “We felt we were in a position to have the drugs."

Moore would be the first in Nebraska to die by lethal injection, the method adopted by the Legislature in 2009. That followed a Nebraska Supreme Court ruling that declared the electric chair unconstitutional.

When the high court stayed Moore's execution in May, Cookson said the state had abandoned efforts to make its current supply of sodium thiopental legally usable.

Instead, the focus was to have the Department of Corrections obtain federal authority to import such controlled substances.

Cookson said there are several overseas sources for the drug, which is no longer manufactured in the United States.

A spokeswoman for the Corrections Department said the agency now possesses a federal drug import permit and is seeking a new source of the drugs.

Dawn Renee Smith, the spokeswoman, said no decision has been made about what to do with the drugs purchased from India in January. Smith said the DEA has said they could be destroyed by the state crime lab if necessary.

Nebraska becomes the latest state to relinquish its supply of sodium thiopental obtained overseas.

In March, DEA officials seized Georgia's supply of the drug due to questions about how it had been imported. Georgia's supply came from Britain.

Tennessee and Kentucky also have turned over their supplies to federal officials.

Sodium thiopental is a fast-acting sedative that is the first of three drugs administered in an execution. Its use is controversial.

The last U.S. manufacturer quit making it earlier this year, setting off a scramble among states that utilize lethal injection.

Nebraska and at least 6 other states went overseas to obtain the drug. Other states switched to a different sedative [--] phenobarbital, a drug commonly used by veterinarians to euthanize animals to carry out executions.

Soucie has questioned whether the India company was properly registered to export drugs and whether Nebraska violated federal laws on importing controlled substances.

He and other death-penalty opponents also question whether the Indian drugs were a generic version that does not meet U.S. pharmaceutical standards, thus risking unnecessary pain in an execution.

In a June 9 court filing, Soucie included the contents of an email from the Kansas City, Mo., office of the DEA indicating that Nebraska officials were told on April 11 [--] 3 months after obtaining the drugs from India that the Department of Corrections “was not accepted” for the importation of such controlled substances.

The email indicated that George Green, an attorney for the state agency, was told how to apply for valid “importer registration."

Cookson said that once his office learned of DEA's concerns, it reached out to federal officials to determine if the Indian drugs could somehow be used, or if the state needed to obtain permits to obtain a new supply.

Eventually, the decision was made to seek a new supply, he said.

Source: Omaha World-Herald, June 19, 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

China executes 11 members of gang who ran billion-dollar criminal empire in Myanmar

China has executed 11 members of the notorious Ming family criminal gang, who ran mafia-like scam centers in Myanmar and killed workers who tried to escape, Chinese state media reported on Thursday. The Ming family was one of the so-called 4 families of northern Myanmar — crime syndicates accused of running hundreds of compounds dealing in internet fraud, prostitution and drug production, and whose members held prominent positions in the local government and militia aligned with Myanmar’s ruling junta.

Florida | Man convicted of leaving girl to be eaten by gators avoids death penalty

After about 4 hours of deliberations, jurors on Friday recommended Harrel Braddy should be sentenced to life in prison for the 1998 killing of 5-year-old Quantisha Maycock. A South Florida man who dropped off a 5-year-old child in the Everglades to be eaten alive by gators nearly 3 decades ago was given a second chance at life as jurors recommended he should spend the rest of his life behind bars instead of being sent to death row. After about four hours of deliberations, jurors on Friday recommended Harrel Braddy should be sentenced to life in prison for the 1998 killing of 5-year-old Quantisha Maycock.

Federal Judge Rules Out Death Penalty for Luigi Mangione in UnitedHealth CEO Killing

NEW YORK — A federal judge has dismissed two charges against Luigi Mangione, the man accused of assassinating UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, effectively removing the possibility of the death penalty in the high-profile case. U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett ruled Friday that the murder charge through use of a firearm — the only count that could have carried a capital sentence — was legally incompatible with the remaining interstate stalking charges against Mangione.

Georgia parole board suspends scheduled execution of Cobb County death row prisoner

The execution of a Georgia man scheduled for Wednesday has been suspended as the State Board of Pardons and Paroles considers a clemency application. Stacey Humphreys, 52, would have been the state's first execution in 2025. As of December 16, 2025, Georgia has carried out zero executions in 2025. The state last executed an inmate in January 2020, followed by a pause due to COVID-19. Executions resumed in 2024, but none have occurred this year until now. Humphreys had been sentenced to death for the 2003 killings of 33-year-old Cyndi Williams and 21-year-old Lori Brown, who were fatally shot at the real estate office where they worked.

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.

California | Convicted killer Scott Peterson keeps swinging in court — but expert says he’s not going anywhere but his cell

More than two decades after Laci Peterson vanished from her Modesto, California, home, the murder case that captivated the nation continues to draw legal challenges, public debate and renewed attention. As the year comes to a close, Scott Peterson, convicted in 2004 of murdering his pregnant wife and their unborn son Conner, remains behind bars, serving life without the possibility of parole. His wife disappeared on Christmas Eve in 2002, and a few months later, the remains of Laci and Conner were found in the San Francisco Bay.

Death toll in Iran protests could exceed 30,000

In an exclusive report, the American magazine TIME cited two senior officials from the Iranian Ministry of Health, who stated that the scale of the crackdown against protesters on January 18 and 19 was so widespread that 18-wheeler trailers replaced ambulances. In its report, based on testimony from these two high-ranking officials, TIME revealed statistics that differ vastly from the official narrative of the Islamic Republic.

The US reporter who has witnessed 14 executions: ‘People need to know what it looks like’

South Carolina-based journalist Jeffrey Collins observed back-to-back executions in 2025 after the state revived the death penalty following a 13-year pause Jeffrey Collins has watched 14 men draw their final breaths. Over 25 years at the Associated Press, the South Carolina-based journalist has repeatedly served as an observer inside the state’s execution chamber, watching from feet away as prison officials kill men who were sentenced to capital punishment. South Carolina has recently kept him unusually busy, with seven back-to-back executions in 14 months.

Florida's second execution of 2026 scheduled for February

Florida’s second execution of 2026, a man convicted of killing a grocery story owner, will take place in February. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the death warrant Jan. 23 for Melvin Trotter, 65, to die by lethal injection Feb. 24. Florida's first execution will take place just a few weeks earlier when Ronald Palmer Heath is set to die Feb. 10. Trotter was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death in 1987 for strangling and stabbing Virgie Langford a year earlier in Palmetto.

China executes another four members of powerful Myanmar-based crime family

China has executed another four members of a powerful Myanmar-based crime family that oversaw 41 pig butchering scam* compounds across Southeast Asia. The executed individuals were members of the Bai family, a particularly powerful gang that ruled the Laukkai district and helped transform it into a hub for casinos, trafficking, scam compounds, and prostitution. China’s Supreme People’s Court approved the executions after 21 members were charged with homicide, kidnapping, extortion, operating a fraudulent casino, organizing illegal border crossings, and forced prostitution. The court said the Bai family made over $4 billion across its enterprise and killed six Chinese citizens.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog