Ohio obtains hundreds of vials of lethal drugs

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSkkpFCGqjmIPN4lj4W02kAS1qMbe05Z8CooL7Z1mVBrEpBR78cXBUsHkXQ7aDpHQPvJ893H4uep8vgv3XP_9lIs6Z8pIRiEm0B33Io2r8Nq4PE6f0SEIh_k_HGt0HT6LxcUYVL4M2Yi0/s1600/Midazolam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSkkpFCGqjmIPN4lj4W02kAS1qMbe05Z8CooL7Z1mVBrEpBR78cXBUsHkXQ7aDpHQPvJ893H4uep8vgv3XP_9lIs6Z8pIRiEm0B33Io2r8Nq4PE6f0SEIh_k_HGt0HT6LxcUYVL4M2Yi0/s400/Midazolam.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio has obtained hundreds of vials of lethal injection drugs, allowing it to put a condemned child killer to death next month and conduct multiple executions after it, records show.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Inventory logs obtained by The Associated Press through a public records request show the state received supplies three times in September and October for the first drug used in the process, a sedative called midazolam that’s been at the center of several lawsuits over lethal injection.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The records show the state obtained supplies twice in September and October for the second drug used in the process and three times in September for the third drug.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The state has said the drugs it plans to use on the first three executions this year are standard drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration, though it won’t say where they came from. Attorneys for death row inmates have raised concerns the state may have to resort to drugs from compounding pharmacies, which produce specialty batches and aren’t subject to the same type of federal regulation as FDA-approved drugs.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Attorneys have been unable to identify the suppliers or producers because of the 2015 law and because recent federal court rulings bar them from obtaining the information through usual evidence channels.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The logs show the state could conceivably carry out dozens of executions with these supplies. What’s unclear is the drugs’ expiration dates — information not provided on the logs — which could control whether they’re available for future executions.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">JoEllen Smith, a spokeswoman for the Ohio prisons agency, declined to comment.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The state plans to execute Ronald Phillips on Feb. 15 for the 1993 rape and murder of his girlfriend’s 3-year-old daughter in Akron. Seven other executions are also scheduled this year.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The logs obtained by the AP show:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">— The Department of Rehabilitation and Correction received 750 vials of midazolam on Sept. 9; 750 vials again on Oct. 3; and 100 vials on Oct. 27. That could be enough for as many as 40 executions.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">— The state received 150 vials of rocuronium bromide, a paralytic drug and the second drug administered, on Sept. 9; and 80 vials of the drug on Sept. 30. Ten of those vials would be enough for one execution.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">— The state received 12 vials of potassium chloride, a drug that stops the heart and the last drug administered, on Sept. 9; 12 vials on Sept. 23; and 150 vials on Sept. 30. That could be enough for dozens of executions.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ohio and other states have struggled to find legal supplies of execution drugs.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Drugmakers have by and large put their drugs off-limits for executions. Last year, Pfizer put seven drugs off-limits, including the three drugs to be used by Ohio. But drugs like midazolam are widespread, found everywhere from dental offices to veterinary clinics, making it difficult to trace the origin.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Executions have been on hold in Ohio since January 2014, when Dennis McGuire gasped and snorted during the 26 minutes it took him to die, the longest execution since the state resumed putting prisoners to death in 1999.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The state used a two-drug method with McGuire, starting with midazolam, its first use for executions in the country.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Attorneys challenging Ohio’s new three-drug method say midazolam is unlikely to relieve an inmate’s pain. The drug, which is meant to sedate inmates, was also used in a problematic 2014 execution in Arizona. But last year, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the use of midazolam in a case out of Oklahoma.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The state says the method is similar to Ohio’s past execution process, which survived court challenges. State attorneys also say the Supreme Court ruling last year makes clear that the use of midazolam is allowable.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A trial challenging the state’s execution method was wrapping up Monday in federal court in Dayton. Testifying for the state last week, a member of the execution team that put McGuire to death said he was puzzled by McGuire’s reaction and “was wondering what was going on.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Another execution team member testified he didn’t believe McGuire suffered.</div><br />Source: The Associated Press, January 9, 2017<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">⚑ | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: <a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com">deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a>.</div><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; border: 0px solid rgb(255, 204, 0); color: black; text-align: center; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL4sspwgGptzvuHVklum5TwxKppRN-lIC5TN8RLZFq_B4ZOtBrX1ssXPNKQ6XpSyQFRJRtVQN45HMkpt3VX0JtOW0TovwxZAurG-AV6gh98IAXo7Ip6QlpkZr9WrM3_m943Mwy-gGxBAY/s1600/Find+us+Facebook.jpg" /></a></div></td> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiULIPEaT_P6oIauxAZd17XRRxljesDLS7iIjdQXT7Xct99uHeohx4IYmiAB6S044gTjMDGSy50sL2vDzOyPZ-3vJj9zwcYQ2rgzJh9v1-QDiunKAQtLLLqJ83s38qN3HABxGIC8GsIOD0/s1600/Find+us+twitter.jpg" /></a><span id="goog_1427852018"></span><span id="goog_1427852019"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></div></td> </tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><b>Opposed to Capital Punishment? 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Ohio obtains hundreds of vials of lethal drugs

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio has obtained hundreds of vials of lethal injection drugs, allowing it to put a condemned child killer to death next mo...

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Florida changes lethal injection drugs

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdqWramXsOQ3sGhuXO2KPBzbbct9GtHpLNsqgCSs0xh7eQbDTeymcTaZeIf4Q931FS4W5TDCmfhUMLXJj6I8XKB4SLL-ZLltJ7t3kcxULPERdaXjQjejf5VSTwp9IMo7CekO2KzsTdYcQ/s1600/lethal+injection+lab.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdqWramXsOQ3sGhuXO2KPBzbbct9GtHpLNsqgCSs0xh7eQbDTeymcTaZeIf4Q931FS4W5TDCmfhUMLXJj6I8XKB4SLL-ZLltJ7t3kcxULPERdaXjQjejf5VSTwp9IMo7CekO2KzsTdYcQ/s400/lethal+injection+lab.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">'The new triple-drug cocktail is the only one of its kind.'</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - In the midst of a major upheaval involving Florida's death-penalty laws, state corrections officials have adopted a new lethal-injection procedure that includes a drug never before used for executions and another used only by accident.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The move is almost certain to spur more litigation over the state's already-embattled death penalty, in limbo for nearly a year in the aftermath of a U.S. Supreme Court decision last January that struck down as unconstitutional Florida's capital sentencing system because it gave too much power to judges, instead of juries.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Department of Corrections posted the revised three-drug lethal injection protocol on its website Thursday, a day after Secretary Julie Jones signed the new procedure.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The new triple-drug cocktail is the only one of its kind among the states that rely on similar procedures and incorporates a sedative never before used in executions, along with a killing agent used only once --- when Oklahoma executioners used it by accident.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"It's certainly troubling that the state of Florida is continuing to use experimental protocols in lethal injection," said Maria DeLiberato, a lawyer who represents Death Row prisoners, including inmate Dane Abdool.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Abdool is one of five Death Row inmates who are plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit challenging Florida's lethal-injection protocol.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"We'll have to review the protocol, discuss with appropriate experts and make a determination regarding any litigation," DeLiberato said in a telephone interview Thursday.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The News Service of Florida first reported in December that the corrections agency may be considering a new drug protocol, based on records related to a lawsuit filed by Arizona Death Row inmates. The records revealed that Florida has run out of the sedative midazolam hydrochloride, will soon run out of potassium chloride --- the final drug in the triple-drug lethal injection cocktail --- and spent $12,000 last year stockpiling three new drugs.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Department of Corrections spokeswoman Michelle Glady said in an interview Thursday the agency did not know whether the protocol has ever been used elsewhere.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">States have been scrambling to obtain lethal injection drugs after manufacturers have refused to sell the substances to corrections agencies for execution purposes.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In its new protocol, Florida is substituting etomidate for midazolam as the critical first drug, used to sedate prisoners before injecting them with a paralytic and then a drug used to stop prisoners' hearts.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Midazolam, still in use by some states, is the focus of the Arizona lawsuit, filed after convicted killer Joseph Wood took two hours to die in 2014. Arizona corrections officials have tried to get the lawsuit dismissed as moot because they contend they have run out of the drug and it is no longer available. At least four other states claim they have supplies of midazolam.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Concerns about midazolam also prompted the Florida Supreme Court last year to halt the execution of Jerry William Correll, pending the outcome of a lawsuit filed by Oklahoma prisoners over the drug's use. In June 2015, a sharply divided U.S. Supreme Court rejected the challenge in the landmark case, known as Glossip v. Gross.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Etomidate, also known by its brand name "Amidate," has never been used before as part of the three-drug execution procedure in the U.S., according to Megan McCracken, a lawyer with the Death Penalty Clinic at the University of California, Berkeley Law School.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The constitutionality of any state's three-drug execution procedure hinges on the first of the drugs used in the process, McCracken said in a telephone interview. Ensuring that prisoners are properly sedated is critical to guaranteeing that the lethal-injection procedure does not violate Eighth Amendment prohibitions on cruel and unusual punishments, she said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The new protocol also replaces potassium chloride, the drug used to make prisoners' hearts stop beating, with potassium acetate. According to records obtained by the News Service, the state has a small supply of potassium chloride that will expire next month and began purchasing potassium acetate in March.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtqp4wmluH0IvF8sYN-ll0zl2yrwEo-z3uNQvBXr0cUr4aa6-09LXuG7h1QzRalYtLF3G9fJT9Qzm5FakgjCe8XOp4J6m6heq-OH310RKQ5gYJC-iLKqOl4AG64NkM7B5Lez6sP9Lszcw/s1600/Potassium+Chloride+Potassium+Acetate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Potassium acetate" border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtqp4wmluH0IvF8sYN-ll0zl2yrwEo-z3uNQvBXr0cUr4aa6-09LXuG7h1QzRalYtLF3G9fJT9Qzm5FakgjCe8XOp4J6m6heq-OH310RKQ5gYJC-iLKqOl4AG64NkM7B5Lez6sP9Lszcw/s400/Potassium+Chloride+Potassium+Acetate.jpg" title="Potassium acetate" width="400" /></a>Potassium acetate has only been used once before, according to death penalty experts.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Last year, Oklahoma corrections officials admitted they mistakenly used potassium acetate in the execution of Charles Warner, although the state's protocol requires the use of potassium chloride.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In her letter to Gov. Rick Scott in which she certifies the new protocol, Jones wrote that the new procedure "will not involve unnecessary lingering or wanton infliction of pain and suffering."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But McCracken said it is unknown what studies or data --- if any --- the state is relying on to support its new protocol.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"What we see now is a mistake and an accident from an execution in Oklahoma codified as the new execution procedure in Florida," McCracken said. "The novel aspect of the drug formula and the experimental nature of the protocol is extraordinarily concerning."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The state's death penalty has been in flux since the January 2016 U.S. Supreme Court decision, in a case known as Hurst v. Florida, and a series of subsequent court rulings on the issue.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Shortly after the January ruling, the Florida Supreme Court put on hold two executions ordered by Gov. Rick Scott.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The court late last month, however, lifted a stay of execution in the case of Mark James Asay.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But the court's ruling in Asay's case may not mean that lethal injections will again be underway anytime soon, especially given the new protocol.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Corrections officials expect litigation in response to the new drugs, Glady said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"That's very typical," she said.</div><br />Source: News Service of Florida, Dara Kam, January 5, 2017<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">⚑ | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: <a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com">deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a>.</div><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; border: 0px solid rgb(255, 204, 0); color: black; text-align: center; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL4sspwgGptzvuHVklum5TwxKppRN-lIC5TN8RLZFq_B4ZOtBrX1ssXPNKQ6XpSyQFRJRtVQN45HMkpt3VX0JtOW0TovwxZAurG-AV6gh98IAXo7Ip6QlpkZr9WrM3_m943Mwy-gGxBAY/s1600/Find+us+Facebook.jpg" /></a></div></td> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiULIPEaT_P6oIauxAZd17XRRxljesDLS7iIjdQXT7Xct99uHeohx4IYmiAB6S044gTjMDGSy50sL2vDzOyPZ-3vJj9zwcYQ2rgzJh9v1-QDiunKAQtLLLqJ83s38qN3HABxGIC8GsIOD0/s1600/Find+us+twitter.jpg" /></a><span id="goog_1427852018"></span><span id="goog_1427852019"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></div></td> </tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><b>Opposed to Capital Punishment? 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Florida changes lethal injection drugs

'The new triple-drug cocktail is the only one of its kind.' TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - In the midst of a major upheaval involving Florida...

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Challenge to Ohio's Newest Execution Method Goes to Trial

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4prr7Lix0XC23ycAmNCJuJkzYXJYXiePE4smMSGe5vosalehmnwtc9Jo8oYWmyQnAaciin4Qdm6ty2ck4n5dUlIZ4s1R4DB4n-tHCt2qQCabrWmjm77ni1DdkNEASCOlkVnn1sSHJ0xw/s1600/Ohio+Death+Chamber.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Ohio's death chamber" border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4prr7Lix0XC23ycAmNCJuJkzYXJYXiePE4smMSGe5vosalehmnwtc9Jo8oYWmyQnAaciin4Qdm6ty2ck4n5dUlIZ4s1R4DB4n-tHCt2qQCabrWmjm77ni1DdkNEASCOlkVnn1sSHJ0xw/s400/Ohio+Death+Chamber.jpg" title="Ohio's death chamber" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ohio's death chamber</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">Ohio's newest execution method is either a legal approach to putting condemned killers to death or a process akin to burning inmates at the stake, according to arguments in the latest challenge to capital punishment in the state.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A 4-day trial that began Tuesday in federal court in Dayton focuses on Ohio's updated execution system and a new 3-drug method similar to one used several years ago.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Executions have been on hold in Ohio since January 2014, when death row inmate Dennis McGuire gasped and snorted during the 26 minutes it took him to die.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The state plans to execute Ronald Phillips on Feb. 15 for the rape and death of his girlfriend's 3-year-old daughter in Akron in 1993.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Witnesses before Magistrate Judge Michael Merz will include members of the state execution team, who will not be named and will answer questions while sitting behind courtroom screens.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Lawyers for death row inmates say a 3-drug method, announced last year, is worse than a similar procedure used years ago. They say multiple problems remain with the way the state prepares and carries out executions.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In a court filing, the attorneys say the 1st drug in the process - midazolam - is unlikely to relieve an inmate's pain. The drug, which is meant to sedate inmates, was used in executions in Arizona and Ohio in 2014 that turned out to be problematic. But last year, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the use of midazolam in a case out of Oklahoma.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">According to the filing, because <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midazolam" target="_blank">midazolam is not a barbiturate and cannot relieve pain</a>, inmates are likely to experience "severe physical pain," mental suffering and anguish. As a result, "such an execution would be inhuman and barbarous, akin in its level of pain and suffering to being buried alive, burning at the stake, and other primitive methods long since abandoned by civilized society," the filing last fall said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The state used a 2-drug method with McGuire, beginning with midazolam, but then discontinued it. Afterward, Ohio struggled to find new supplies of drugs since they were placed off limits for executions by drugmakers.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The prisons agency now says it will use midazolam; rocuronium bromide, which causes paralysis; and potassium chloride, which stops the heart. But the state hasn't said where it got the drugs.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The state says the method is similar to Ohio's past execution process, which all survived court challenges. State attorneys also say the U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year makes clear that the use of midazolam is allowable.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"The Eighth Amendment does not prevent Ohio from adopting a new method of execution, or returning to a previously used one, particularly when changes in the availability of drugs necessitate such a change," state attorneys said in a filing last fall.</div><br />Source: Associated Press, January 4, 2017<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">⚑ | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: <a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com">deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a>.</div><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; border: 0px solid rgb(255, 204, 0); color: black; text-align: center; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL4sspwgGptzvuHVklum5TwxKppRN-lIC5TN8RLZFq_B4ZOtBrX1ssXPNKQ6XpSyQFRJRtVQN45HMkpt3VX0JtOW0TovwxZAurG-AV6gh98IAXo7Ip6QlpkZr9WrM3_m943Mwy-gGxBAY/s1600/Find+us+Facebook.jpg" /></a></div></td> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiULIPEaT_P6oIauxAZd17XRRxljesDLS7iIjdQXT7Xct99uHeohx4IYmiAB6S044gTjMDGSy50sL2vDzOyPZ-3vJj9zwcYQ2rgzJh9v1-QDiunKAQtLLLqJ83s38qN3HABxGIC8GsIOD0/s1600/Find+us+twitter.jpg" /></a><span id="goog_1427852018"></span><span id="goog_1427852019"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></div></td> </tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><b>Opposed to Capital Punishment? 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Challenge to Ohio's Newest Execution Method Goes to Trial

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Arizona Agrees to Settle Part of Death Penalty Lawsuit

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSkkpFCGqjmIPN4lj4W02kAS1qMbe05Z8CooL7Z1mVBrEpBR78cXBUsHkXQ7aDpHQPvJ893H4uep8vgv3XP_9lIs6Z8pIRiEm0B33Io2r8Nq4PE6f0SEIh_k_HGt0HT6LxcUYVL4M2Yi0/s1600/Midazolam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSkkpFCGqjmIPN4lj4W02kAS1qMbe05Z8CooL7Z1mVBrEpBR78cXBUsHkXQ7aDpHQPvJ893H4uep8vgv3XP_9lIs6Z8pIRiEm0B33Io2r8Nq4PE6f0SEIh_k_HGt0HT6LxcUYVL4M2Yi0/s400/Midazolam.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Arizona has agreed to settle part of a lawsuit by promising it won't again use the sedative midazolam as part of a three-drug combination while carrying out the death penalty.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The state didn't acknowledge any liability in settling the claim that the use of midazolam doesn't ensure that inmates won't feel the pain caused by another drug in the combination.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A remaining claim in the lawsuit alleges the state has abused its discretion in the methods and amounts of drugs used in past executions.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Executions were put on hold in the state after the 2014 death of convicted killer Joseph Rudolph Wood, who was given 15 doses of midazolam and a painkiller and who took nearly two hours to die. His attorney said the execution was botched.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Executions in Arizona will remain on hold until the entire lawsuit is resolved.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Similar challenges to the death penalty are playing out in other parts of the country that seek more transparency about where states get their execution drugs.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">States are struggling to obtain execution drugs because European pharmaceutical companies began blocking the use of their products for lethal injections.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The agreement filed in court Monday in Arizona came six months after the state said it had eliminated its use of midazolam because its supply had expired and another supplier couldn't be found amid pressure from death penalty opponents.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The judge who has the final say on whether the settlement takes effect has expressed concerns in the past over whether the state's promise not to use midazolam could be reversed by a future state prisons director.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The settlement deal specifies that the promise applies to future prison directors and imposes consequences for breaching the agreement.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Under the agreement, if the state intends on using the drug again, inmates could resurrect the midazolam claim and a permanent prohibition on using the drug would take effect.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Private lawyers who have racked up legal fees in representing inmates in the lawsuit say they won't seek reimbursement from the state on the midazolam claim if Arizona keeps its promise.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"There is a financial incentive for the state never to use midazolam," said Dale Baich, an assistant federal public defender who also represents the inmates in the lawsuit.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Arizona Department of Corrections and attorney general's office, which is representing the state, didn't immediately return requests Tuesday for comment on the agreement.</div><br />Source: Associated Press, Jacques Billeaud, December 20, 2016<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">⚑ | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: <a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com">deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a>.</div><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; border: 0px solid rgb(255, 204, 0); color: black; text-align: center; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL4sspwgGptzvuHVklum5TwxKppRN-lIC5TN8RLZFq_B4ZOtBrX1ssXPNKQ6XpSyQFRJRtVQN45HMkpt3VX0JtOW0TovwxZAurG-AV6gh98IAXo7Ip6QlpkZr9WrM3_m943Mwy-gGxBAY/s1600/Find+us+Facebook.jpg" /></a></div></td> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiULIPEaT_P6oIauxAZd17XRRxljesDLS7iIjdQXT7Xct99uHeohx4IYmiAB6S044gTjMDGSy50sL2vDzOyPZ-3vJj9zwcYQ2rgzJh9v1-QDiunKAQtLLLqJ83s38qN3HABxGIC8GsIOD0/s1600/Find+us+twitter.jpg" /></a><span id="goog_1427852018"></span><span id="goog_1427852019"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></div></td> </tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><b>Opposed to Capital Punishment? 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Arizona Agrees to Settle Part of Death Penalty Lawsuit

Arizona has agreed to settle part of a lawsuit by promising it won't again use the sedative midazolam as part of a three-drug combinatio...

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