Post by beth on Sept 29, 2010 21:52:07 GMT -5
Spotlight on Injection Drug as Judge Stays Execution
A pair of last-minute legal decisions, which prevented California's first execution in nearly five years, came in a case with an unusual twist: One of the lethal drugs to be used in the procedure was about to expire.
U.S. Judge Jeremy Fogel issued a stay late Tuesday in the pending execution of Albert Greenwood Brown Jr., who was sentenced to death in 1982 for the rape and murder of 15-year-old Susan Jordan and was scheduled to die on Thursday. The state had said the impending expiration was among "a number of practical constraints" that led to Thursday's deadline.
But Judge Fogel in San Jose said he wouldn't have enough time to review California's lethal-injection procedures. He had halted executions in the state four years ago in a ruling that found the government's methods ran the risk of being painful and inhumane.
On Wednesday, California Attorney General Jerry Brown petitioned the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn Judge Fogel's decision. Hours later, the attorney general dropped his appeal, after the state Supreme Court denied a request from the attorney general to expedite its response to a separate case involving the execution.
The Supreme Court's denial meant that no execution could take place on Thursday as a matter of state law, the attorney general told the Ninth Circuit. The attorney general's office said that the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation would be canceling Thursday's execution.
The drama put a spotlight on the lethal-injection drug, thiopental sodium, a barbiturate that is often used as part of anesthesia before surgery. In recent years, there have been questions about whether the drug is administered in a way that fully renders an inmate unconscious before other lethal drugs are used to complete an execution.
California's batch of thiopental sodium expires on Friday and the drug's maker, Hospira Inc., said it was unlikely more of the drug would be available until the first quarter of next year because of a supply shortage.
The Lake Forest, Ill., company said in a statement Wednesday: "The drug is not indicated for capital punishment, and Hospira does not support its use in this procedure." Hospira spokesman Dan Rosenberg said the company couldn't control how physicians used the drug, adding that many drugs could be used in lethal-injection procedures, "most of which…are intended by their producers for other uses."
California has faced a long-running debate over the use of a three-drug protocol—including thiopental sodium—for lethal injections. In 2006, Judge Fogel effectively imposed a moratorium on executions in the state when he found that the three-drug method could cause a painful death if the application of thiopental sodium failed to render the inmate fully unconscious before two other drugs were used.
This summer, California's Department of Corrections released a new execution protocol and began preparations for Mr. Brown's execution. Attorneys for the inmate and lawyers for the state have since gone back and forth with Judge Fogel and the Ninth Circuit over whether the inmate should be granted a stay until the new protocols could be reviewed.
Other states, too, have wrestled with legal questions around the use of a three-drug protocol for lethal injections. Death-penalty opponents have long asserted that the three-drug combination qualifies as cruel and unusual punishment. They contend that states sometimes don't use qualified medical personnel to perform lethal injections, which can lead to botched executions. Proponents of the death penalty reject the claim that legal injection causes undue pain and suffering.
While the U.S. Supreme Court in 2008 decided that Kentucky's three-drug cocktail didn't amount to cruel and unusual punishment, other states, including Maryland, North Carolina and Ohio, have suspended lethal injections in recent years.
Late last year, Ohio resumed executions after adopting a one-drug protocol that state officials believe can be administered humanely and effectively.
This year, Washington state followed Ohio's lead, turning to a one-drug method of executions.
The one drug that these two states still use is thiopental sodium, in a higher dosage, but neither state has so far been hurt by the drug's scarcity, prison officials said. Ohio has access to enough of the drug to cover its planned executions this year, and while Washington doesn't have enough, it doesn't have any planned executions.
On Wednesday, Mr. Brown's attorney, David Senior, said, "There should be a complete and careful review of the process, without the cloud of Jerry Brown's sleight of hand in setting one execution date based upon the expiration date of the state's execution chemicals."
online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704116004575521784271459238.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLETopStories
A pair of last-minute legal decisions, which prevented California's first execution in nearly five years, came in a case with an unusual twist: One of the lethal drugs to be used in the procedure was about to expire.
U.S. Judge Jeremy Fogel issued a stay late Tuesday in the pending execution of Albert Greenwood Brown Jr., who was sentenced to death in 1982 for the rape and murder of 15-year-old Susan Jordan and was scheduled to die on Thursday. The state had said the impending expiration was among "a number of practical constraints" that led to Thursday's deadline.
But Judge Fogel in San Jose said he wouldn't have enough time to review California's lethal-injection procedures. He had halted executions in the state four years ago in a ruling that found the government's methods ran the risk of being painful and inhumane.
On Wednesday, California Attorney General Jerry Brown petitioned the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn Judge Fogel's decision. Hours later, the attorney general dropped his appeal, after the state Supreme Court denied a request from the attorney general to expedite its response to a separate case involving the execution.
The Supreme Court's denial meant that no execution could take place on Thursday as a matter of state law, the attorney general told the Ninth Circuit. The attorney general's office said that the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation would be canceling Thursday's execution.
The drama put a spotlight on the lethal-injection drug, thiopental sodium, a barbiturate that is often used as part of anesthesia before surgery. In recent years, there have been questions about whether the drug is administered in a way that fully renders an inmate unconscious before other lethal drugs are used to complete an execution.
California's batch of thiopental sodium expires on Friday and the drug's maker, Hospira Inc., said it was unlikely more of the drug would be available until the first quarter of next year because of a supply shortage.
The Lake Forest, Ill., company said in a statement Wednesday: "The drug is not indicated for capital punishment, and Hospira does not support its use in this procedure." Hospira spokesman Dan Rosenberg said the company couldn't control how physicians used the drug, adding that many drugs could be used in lethal-injection procedures, "most of which…are intended by their producers for other uses."
California has faced a long-running debate over the use of a three-drug protocol—including thiopental sodium—for lethal injections. In 2006, Judge Fogel effectively imposed a moratorium on executions in the state when he found that the three-drug method could cause a painful death if the application of thiopental sodium failed to render the inmate fully unconscious before two other drugs were used.
This summer, California's Department of Corrections released a new execution protocol and began preparations for Mr. Brown's execution. Attorneys for the inmate and lawyers for the state have since gone back and forth with Judge Fogel and the Ninth Circuit over whether the inmate should be granted a stay until the new protocols could be reviewed.
Other states, too, have wrestled with legal questions around the use of a three-drug protocol for lethal injections. Death-penalty opponents have long asserted that the three-drug combination qualifies as cruel and unusual punishment. They contend that states sometimes don't use qualified medical personnel to perform lethal injections, which can lead to botched executions. Proponents of the death penalty reject the claim that legal injection causes undue pain and suffering.
While the U.S. Supreme Court in 2008 decided that Kentucky's three-drug cocktail didn't amount to cruel and unusual punishment, other states, including Maryland, North Carolina and Ohio, have suspended lethal injections in recent years.
Late last year, Ohio resumed executions after adopting a one-drug protocol that state officials believe can be administered humanely and effectively.
This year, Washington state followed Ohio's lead, turning to a one-drug method of executions.
The one drug that these two states still use is thiopental sodium, in a higher dosage, but neither state has so far been hurt by the drug's scarcity, prison officials said. Ohio has access to enough of the drug to cover its planned executions this year, and while Washington doesn't have enough, it doesn't have any planned executions.
On Wednesday, Mr. Brown's attorney, David Senior, said, "There should be a complete and careful review of the process, without the cloud of Jerry Brown's sleight of hand in setting one execution date based upon the expiration date of the state's execution chemicals."
online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704116004575521784271459238.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLETopStories