Alabama death row inmate granted stay of execution by federal judge

An Alabama Death Row inmate, set to die later this month, was granted a stay of execution.

Assistant Alabama Attorney Generals yesterday argued in federal court that Doyle Lee Hamm, who has been on death row for more than 30 years, should be executed on Feb. 22-- the date the Alabama Supreme Court set in December. Hamm's attorney argued the 60-year-old inmate, who has cancer, is too sick to die by lethal injection.

U.S. District Judge Karon O Bowdre denied the state's motion to dismiss the case, court records show. According to Hamm's attorney and law professor at Columbia, Bernard Harcourt, the court granted Hamm a stay of execution and will allow the case to go forward.

Alabama's lethal injection procedure requires three drugs to be injected into the inmate, with the first being the sedative midazolam.

Assistant Alabama Attorney Generals Thomas Govan and Beth Jackson Hughes argued Thursday at the hearing that there is no evidence to support Harcourt's argument that Hamm's condition has worsened to the extent that he cannot be executed intravenously.

Harcourt states Hamm should be killed via oral injection-- which midazolam cannot be used for.

According to information revealed in court and through records, Hamm was diagnosed with cancer in 2014 and underwent treatment. The Alabama Department of Corrections said Hamm's cancer went into remission in March 2016, and no scans from an oncologist have been performed since.

In the spring of 2017, Hamm complained of having lumps on his chest and abdomen area. An X-ray was performed, but no PET scans or biopsies were completed.

Earlier this month, doctors said there was no evidence of cancer in his clavicle, but did not have a definitive answer about the other lumps.

"If I allow this case to go forward... [there] will be a prompt resolution," Bowdre said. "It will be my highest priority."

"I do think there is a lot of questions about Mr. Hamm's current medical condition," she said.

In his opening statement, Harcourt said cancer and other medical issues culminated with his previous intravenous drug use have made it virtually impossible to find a vein large enough to insert a catheter, which is needed for the execution drugs. He referenced affidavits of DOC nurses, who claimed they tried to draw blood multiple times from a single vein on Hamm's hand, and often had to "stick him" several times before being successful.

Govan argued the case should be dismissed because Hamm has waited an unreasonable amount of time to file his claim. He said that, assuming Hamm's long standing medical conditions could cause an issue with intravenous access, evidence doesn't show that deterioration happened recently enough to warrant the delay.

Source: al.com, Ivana Hrynkiw, February 1, 2018

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but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde

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