Ohio can use 3-drug combination to resume executing those on death row, appeals court says

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday said it would allow the state of Ohio to use a certain 3-drug mixture to carry out lethal injections, paving the way for the state to resume executing those on death row.

The full court's opinion, decided 8-6 mostly along the court's conservative-liberal split, reverses a preliminary injunction granted by federal magistrate Judge Michael Merz in Dayton in January, as well as a three-judge appellate panel's April decision to uphold the injunction while the case heads to trial.

Merz found there is a "substantial risk of serious harm" in using midazolam, a sedative that is one of the three drugs the state endeavors to use in executions.

Judge Raymond Kethledge, a George W. Bush appointee writing for the majority, wrote that "some risk of pain 'is inherent in any method of execution -- no matter how humane.'" He also wrote that people have differing views on whether the potential for pain is acceptable, but that the plaintiffs must show the drug combination is "'sure or very likely' to cause serious pain."

The anti-death-penalty advocates who brought the case said they would ask the Supreme Court to review the 6th Circuit's decision.

"Multiple executions have demonstrated that midazolam is not a suitable drug for lethal injection, and especially when used with the 2 excruciatingly painful drugs Ohio abandoned in 2009. Wednesday's 8 to 6 narrowly divided ruling doesn't change that fact," attorney Allen Bohnert said in a statement.

Ohio hasn't performed an execution since January 2014, when it took killer Dennis McGuire 25 minutes to die from a previously unused execution drug combination. The state chose a new mixture and scheduled executions, though they have repeatedly been pushed back because of the most recent legal challenge.

The state's new proposed blend includes midazolam, as well as potassium chloride, which stops the heart, and a paralytic agent.

McGuire was administered a combination that included midazolam. Witnesses said he appeared to gasp several times during his execution and made loud snorting or snoring sounds.

"Ohio should not take the risk of continued botched executions by going back to using these dangerous, unsuitable drugs. This is especially true because Ohio still has open avenues where it may be able to obtain reliable execution drugs," Bohnert's statement said.

The challenge to the new mixture was made by death row inmates Gary Otte, Ronald Phillips and Raymond Tibbetts. Phillips, who raped and killed a 3-year-old girl in Akron in 1993, is the first inmate scheduled to die, with an execution date set for July 26.

A spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction said in an email that the department "remains committed to carrying out court-ordered executions in a lawful, humane and dignified manner."

Kethledge wrote that Merz applied the wrong standard in determining the level of harm a person being executed could be exposed to with the 3-drug combination.

He also wrote that the state proved viable alternatives to the combination -- namely sodium thiopental or pentobarbital -- were not readily accessible.

Judge Karen Nelson Moore, who authored a previous opinion striking down the state's proposed use of the combination, wrote the dissent for the mostly-liberal group of judges.

But it was Judge Jane Stranch, a Barack Obama appointee, who opposed the ruling in the most blatant language.

Writing separately, Stranch wrote that certain drug makers have refused to sell the alternative drugs to states to carry out executions, and that the majority's decision ignores the possibility that the refusal to sell "may well evidence a recognition of changing societal attitudes toward the death penalty and a conclusion -- whether based on principle, profit motivation, or both -- that the business in which drug companies engage, selling drugs that improve health and preserve life, is not consistent with selling drugs that are used to put people to death."

She wrote that questions about the death penalty are closely intertwined with issues regarding unfairness in the criminal justice system.

Source: cleveland.com, June 28, 2017

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

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

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