An Arizona judge was in the middle of an emergency telephone hearing on the execution of Joseph Wood when word came that the inmate had finally died after more than an hour of what witnesses have described as gasping.
A transcript of the hearing shows that 45 minutes after defense lawyers filed a motion asking that Wood's execution be stopped because he was still alive, no decision had been made.
The parties — U.S. District Judge Neil Wake, a lawyer from the state attorney general's office, and Wood's attorney — were discussing whether stopping the execution would cause pain when the question became moot.
"I just learned that the IV team leader has confirmed Mr. Wood's death," said Jeff Zick, an attorney for the state.
The process took nearly two hours, with a member of the medical team checking eight times to see if the double-murderer was still alive, state officials said.
Midway through the execution, Wood's legal team filed for an emergency stay of execution and asked the court to order prison officials to try to resuscitate him.
The judge was summoned from a meeting, and Wood's lawyer Robin Konrad told him by phone that since her client had been sedated at 1:57 p.m., "he has been gasping, snorting, and unable to breathe and not dying."
Source: NBC News, July 24, 2014
Arizona lawyers appeal for emergency stay during two-hour execution – read the court transcript
Transcript of the frantic telephone court session that took place during the execution of Joseph Wood in Arizona on Wednesday. Wood's execution lasted for so long that lawyers filed a motion for an emergency stay some 90 minutes into the botched procedure. Wood died while the court hearing was still ongoing.
Click here to read the court transcript
Source:
The Guardian, July 24, 2014
