Ohio Death Penalty Information

Jane Stahl has this commentary on Opednews.com, entitled "A Wrongful Conviction," in which she ponders whether the combination of well-documented cases of wrongful conviction in death penalty cases coupled with modern forensic advances like DNA testing means the time has come for a higher standard of proof than "belief beyond a reasonable doubt" to be required in death penalty cases.  (First appeared on Stahl's website here.)

The Jurist website has this report on Tuesday's decision by South Dakota Governor Mike Rounds to postpone the execution of Elijah Page until proper statutory guidelines are passed by the state legislature to allow a change from a two-drug to a three-drug lethal-injection procedure; and on efforts in Missouri, California and, recently, in Ohio to modify three-drug lethal injection procedures.

KELO-TV in Sioux Falls reports here that after Tuesday's aborted execution, many SD state legislators are getting constituent phone calls calling for renewed debate on whether the death penalty should continue in that state.  This article in the Rapid City Journal has comments from several state legislators on the possibility of a larger debate over the death penalty in response to the Page stay.

Florida death row exonoree Juan Melendez tells his story here as he criss-crosses Wisconsin lobbying against reinstatement of the death penalty there.  Arizona death row exonoree Ray Krone's story is here, as this week's focus on the Journey of Hope blog.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has this article, entitled "People confess to crimes they didn't commit for many reasons: Some seek notoriety; others hope to atone for unrelated transgressionsons."

The Sioux Falls Argus Leader has this additional coverage of the stay of execution ordered for Elijah Page last night in South Dakota, with details on the execution procedures at issue.  (Hat-tip to Dr. Jonathon Groner.)

Excerpt:
State law says the lethal injection should be carried out using a two-drug combination, "a lethal quantity of an ultra-short-acting barbiturate in combination with a chemical paralytic agent and continuing the application thereof until the convict is pronounced dead."

However, corrections officials were prepared to execute Page using the three-drug cocktail.

The first drug, sodium thiopental, a sedative, is intended to induce unconsciousness. The second drug, pancuronium bromide, paralyzes the inmate. The third drug, potassium chloride, which is not called for in state law, causes the inmate's heart to stop.

Dr. Jonathon Groner, a surgery professor at Ohio State University who has studied and written extensively about lethal injection, said one reason the method is so common is that states share information through visits to states such as Texas.

"The funny thing is it's all word of mouth," Groner said. "It's like a bunch of old ladies getting together to discuss recipes."

He doesn't know of any state that uses a two-drug method as described in South Dakota's law. It sounds particularly dangerous, he said, because a person could wake up as they are suffocating to death.

"It would clearly take longer to die," Groner said. "If you only give the first two drugs, it's death by suffocation."

It's possible to give somebody a lethal dose of the barbiturate alone, but states added the paralytic drug as a "chemical veil," he said. It prevents involuntary movements and muscle contractions that could go on for hours and make the execution "very unpleasant to look at."

But the drug also prevents inmates from expressing pain if the first drug is not administered correctly. And that is a significant risk, Groner said.

"The people who give the drugs are by and large not medically trained, and they are nervous," he said. "You're asking them to do a tricky procedure that in hospitals are only done by people with advanced medical skills. It'd be like asking me to land a 747."

The third drug, potassium chloride, would be extremely painful if the inmate were not unconscious.

"Even potassium in a vein is extremely painful. It feels like your arm is on fire, even at low doses," Groner said. "If someone is not fully asleep, it is torture."

Potassium chloride produces a quick death in that it stops the inmate's heart, Marshall said. Using the the two-drug method, the execution can take much longer.

"Witnesses are required to stay there until the inmate is pronounced dead. Without the third drug, that stay could be half an hour, perhaps longer, while they wait for the heart to stop beating," Marshall said.

But it also comes with a risk of excruciating pain if the first two drugs are not administered properly, he said. The first drug is supposed to make the inmate unconscious, but if it doesn't work and the second, paralytic drug is injected, the inmate would not be able to signal pain.

"You'd have the ability to feel pain, but not express your pain to anyone in the room," Marshall said.

South Dakota governor Mike Rounds stayed the execution of Elijah Page scheduled for last night because the procedure planned to be used by the SD Dept of Corrections did not match the procedure spelled out in the SD lethal injection statute.  The Rapid City Journal has this coverage.  AP has this.  BlackhIllsportal.com has text of the SD lethal injection statute and the governor's statement here.

Rounds statement:
“I have ordered a stay of execution for Elijah Page. The existing statute (SDCL 23A-27A-32) defining how lethal injection is performed, was last updated in 1984. Since that time, states utilizing lethal injection for executions use a three drug protocol. I will not have the individuals responsible for carrying out the execution be placed in a position of being in violation of state law. The reprieve will delay the execution until after July 1, 2007. This will allow the SD Legislature enough time to amend the current statute; reflecting more recent lethal injection protocols.”

Meanwhile, Oklahoma executed Eric Allen Patton last night after altering its lethal injection protocol and doubling the amount of barbituate used in the procedure.  Reuters has this coverage.

US 6th Circuit Ct of Appeals overturns Donald Williams death sentence

A 3-judge panel of the US 6th Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday upheld the murder conviction of Donald Williams, but vacated his death sentence because of failure of his attorneys to properly prepare for and present mitigation evidence during the sentencing phase of his trial.  Opinion is here (24-page pdf).  (Hat-tip to Karl Keys who has a relevant excerpt from the opinion here.)

The latest Rasmussen Poll numbers on the Ohio governor's race are here.

Haider Rizvi has this article distributed by IPS News Agency, entitled "U.S. States Widen Scope for Executions," on the recent legislative trend expanding death-penalty eligibility for repeat child sex offenders.

Excerpt:
Politicians in primarily southern U.S. states have passed laws that expand the use of the death penalty to include repeat child sex offenders -- a move mental health professionals say is ineffective in stopping molestation and abolitionists believe ultimately will be ruled unconstitutional.

Despite the warnings, though, two states, South Carolina and Oklahoma, this summer enacted laws that allow repeat child sex offenders to be put to death. They join Louisiana, Florida, and Montana, which already have similar laws on their books.

Amnesty Int'l has released this last-minute clemency appeal in opposition to the execution of Elijah Page scheduled for tomorrow night in South Dakota.  Page's execution would be the first in South Dakota since 1947.