The US Executions / Death Row Thread

LazyLion

LazyLion

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About one in 25 inmates sentenced to death in the United States was likely wrongly convicted, a study said Monday.

Estimating the rate of false convictions, which the study put at 4.1 percent, is no easy task since there is no central database and many are never identified, in part because some sentences are commuted.

Nevertheless, "false convictions are far more likely to be detected among those cases that end in death sentences than in any other category of criminal convictions," said the article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"Everyone, from the first officer on the scene of a potentially capital crime to the Chief Justice of the United States, takes capital cases more seriously than other criminal prosecutions -- and knows that everybody else will do so as well."

The study, the first of its kind, used a statistical method known as survival analysis. The method is usually used to determine the effectiveness of a medical treatment in reducing mortality rates.

Researchers were thus able to estimate the proportion of death row inmates whose innocence would have been established if they had stayed in prison and thus benefited from resources to defend themselves.

"Even if you are sentenced to death... the chance to be exonerated is much higher if you're still on death row," lead author Samuel Gross told AFP.

However, "the great majority of innocent people who are sentenced to death are never identified and freed."

The researchers used data from the 7,482 people sentenced to death from January 1974 to December 2004.

Among that group, 12.6 percent were executed, 1.6 percent were exonerated, four percent died while on death row, 46.1 percent remained on death row and 35.8 percent were taken off death row but stayed in prison after their capital sentences or convictions were reversed or changed.

Based on the analysis showing a more than four percent error margin in trials, the study said it was "all but certain" that several of the 1,320 people executed since 1977 were in fact innocent.

"Most innocent defendants who have been sentenced to death have not been exonerated, and many -- including the great majority of those who have been re-sentenced to life in prison -- probably never will be," it added.

"The net result is that the great majority of innocent defendants who are convicted of capital murder in the United States are neither executed nor exonerated. They are sentenced, or re-sentenced to prison for life, and then forgotten."


Source : Sapa-AFP /nsm
Date : 29 Apr 2014 00:21
 
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OHIO TO INCREASE LETHAL INJECTION DRUG DOSAGE

Ohio said Monday it will increase the dosage of the lethal injection drugs used to put condemned inmates to death.

The state said it is boosting the amount of the two-drug combo of a sedative and painkiller "to allay any remaining concerns" after the last execution, when an inmate made repeated snorting-like gasps as he died.

The Department of Rehabilitation and Correction also said Monday it believes death row inmate Dennis McGuire was not conscious and did not experience pain or distress during his Jan. 14 execution.

The state's policy change comes 30 days before the next scheduled execution on May 28, when a man convicted of killing a Cleveland produce vendor in 1983 is set to die.

McGuire's 26-minute execution was the longest since Ohio resumed putting inmates to death in 1999.

The long and fitful execution of McGuire with a then-untested combination of chemicals brought cries of cruel and unusual punishment.

A gasping, snorting McGuire took 26 minutes to die after the chemicals began flowing. McGuire's adult children complained it amounted to torture, with the convicted killer's son saying: "Nobody deserves to go through that."

States are in a bind for two main reasons: European companies have cut off supplies of certain execution drugs because of opposition to capital punishment in Europe. And states can't simply switch to other chemicals without triggering legal challenges from defense attorneys.


Source : Sapa-AP /nsm
Date : 29 Apr 2014 00:20
 
US INMATE 'TORTURED' IN BOTCHED EXECUTION

by Chantal Valery

A US death row inmate writhed in agony and mumbled incoherently in a botched execution using untested drugs, before dying Tuesday of a heart attack 40 minutes into the ordeal, news reports said.

The gruesome end to the life of Clayton Lockett, a convicted murderer and rapist, prompted allegations that what he underwent amounted to torture. It also caused the state of Oklahoma, where Lockett died, to postpone the scheduled execution of a second inmate.

Lockett was administered a new, untested three-drug protocol in what would have been the central state's first double execution in 80 years.

But Oklahoma Department of Corrections Director Robert Patton ordered the execution of Lockett stopped about three or four minutes after the start of the injection at 6:23 pm (2323 GMT), citing a "vein failure," a prisons spokesman said.

Lockett died of a massive heart attack at 7:06 pm after receiving all three drugs, spokesman Jerry Massie said.

Even though he was administered the injection, "the drugs didn't go into the system," the spokesman said.

The drugs were a sedative, an anesthetic and a lethal dose of potassium chloride.

Patton immediately ordered a 14-day delay for the execution of Charles Warner, who had been set to be executed two hours after Lockett.

"About 13 minutes into the execution, after he had been declared unconscious, the inmate began writhing in pain. His body was sort of bucking. He was clenching his jaw," Tulsa World editor Ziva Branstetter told MSNBC television.

"Several times he mumbled phrases that were unintelligible. Only word we could make out was: 'Man!' He seemed to be in a lot of pain.

"Several times he rose, his head and shoulders rose up off the gurney as if he was trying to get off the gurney."

Shortly thereafter, the prison warden closed the blinds, preventing reporters from witnessing what was going on in the execution chamber, Branstetter said.

"After weeks of Oklahoma refusing to disclose basic information about the drugs for tonight's lethal injection procedures, tonight, Clayton Lockett was tortured to death," Warner's lawyer Madeline Cohen said in a statement.

She called for an independent investigation and autopsy to learn what went wrong.

"The state must disclose complete information about the drugs, including their purity, efficacy, source and the results of any testing," Cohen added.

"Until much more is known about tonight's failed experiment of an execution, no execution can be permitted in Oklahoma."

The state had previously postponed the two executions in March because of a shortage of lethal injection drugs.

But the state managed to get supplies, while changing the execution protocol, and the two inmates exhausted their appeals.

Lockett was convicted in 2000 for the rape and murder of a young woman he kidnapped, beat and buried alive.

Warner was convicted for the 1997 rape and murder of an 11-month-old girl.

Cohen had argued against the new injection combination, saying the "experimental new drug protocol, including a paralytic," would make it "impossible to know whether the executions will comport with the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual suffering."

"Despite repeated requests by counsel, the state has refused, again and again, to provide information about the source, purity, testing and efficacy of the drugs to be used. It's not even known whether the drugs were purchased legally," she said.

Both Lockett and Warner had argued they had the constitutional right to know the composition and origin of any drugs used in the lethal injection.

In a judicial twist, Oklahoma's Supreme Court had first suspended the executions in order to resolve the controversy, but then two days later reversed itself, saying the men had no more right to information on drugs than they would for the electric chair.

Since European manufacturers began refusing to sell the most commonly used anesthetic -- pentobarbital -- for executions, several US states have found themselves confronted with shortages, and are now seeking an alternative, which has led to an increase in court cases over the issue.

The last time two inmates were executed on the same night in Oklahoma was in 1937.

Human-rights groups have condemned the United States' continued use of the death penalty, which the nation's Supreme Court suspended from 1972 to 1976 but then reinstated.


Source : Sapa-AFP /dm
Date : 30 Apr 2014 08:53
 
The gruesome end to the life of Clayton Lockett, a convicted murderer and rapist, prompted allegations that what he underwent amounted to torture. It also caused the state of Oklahoma, where Lockett died, to postpone the scheduled execution of a second inmate.
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If he is guilty of these crimes then I hope it really hurt.
 
What's wrong with torturing a murderer and rapist... he saw it fit to torture his victims, if it's good enough for them it's good enough for him

Shame poor murdering rapist, fukc him!
 
Vegeta said:
What's wrong with torturing a murderer and rapist... he saw it fit to torture his victims, if it's good enough for them it's good enough for him

Shame poor murdering rapist, fukc him!
Click to expand...

Moral arguments aside, the 8th amendment to the US constitution disallows cruel and unusual punishment.
 
COMMON MEDICAL PROCEDURE USED IN US EXECUTIONS

Executions by lethal injection in US involve a common medical procedure and government-approved medications - used for non-medical purposes. That's one reason why the American Medical Association and several other physician and nurses groups oppose having their members participate in executions. Here's how the procedures and drugs are supposed to work, and what can go wrong.

IV INJECTIONS

These are performed in doctors' offices and hospitals to administer fluids and medication. Typically a needle-tipped catheter is inserted into a vein, through which medication is given, in single doses or continuously infused.

Vein ruptures - reported to have happened in an Oklahoma execution Tuesday - can occur if an IV needle accidentally pokes all the way through a vein wall, or causes it to burst open, allowing IV fluid or drugs to flow out of the vein and not to the intended target - like a leak in a garden hose. That could happen under any number of circumstances, including if the patient's arm moved during needle insertion, or if a tightened tourniquet creates too much pressure in the vein, causing it to burst like a balloon when the needle pierces it.

In medical settings this is usually fairly inconsequential; nurses attempting to insert the IV typically would notice bruising or swelling and would then insert it in a different vein before administering medication. Experts say it occurs most often in older, sick patients with frail veins, or IV drug users whose veins have scarred, but it is uncommon in healthy younger people.

Sometimes attempts to insert an IV miss the vein entirely, allowing fluid or drugs to flow into surrounding tissue instead of into the bloodstream. That also can cause swelling and pain at the injection site, and can delay action of the medication. While IV saline is typically harmless, many medications can cause serious tissue damage if they spill out of the bloodstream and the breach isn't treated right away.

IV injections are considered extremely safe in skilled hands. It is uncertain how much training was given to the three technicians who each administered one of three drugs used in the Oklahoma execution. According to the state's execution protocol, the warden recruits a "licensed/certified health care specialist in IV insertion." The identity of that person is not disclosed.

THE DRUGS

The drugs given to Oklahoma inmate Clayton Lockett were midazolam, vecuronium bromide and potassium chloride - all potent drugs with potentially serious side effects. In executions, they are typically injected in that order, at high doses.

Midazolam is a short-acting sedative sold under the brand name Versed, sometimes used to calm patients before medical procedures or before surgery involving general anesthesia. Side effects can include serious breathing problems and cardiac arrest. Vecuronium bromide is a muscle relaxant used during some surgeries. It also can cause breathing difficulties. Potassium chloride is used to treat potassium deficiency but is used in executions to stop the heart.

DOCTORS AND EXECUTIONS

The American Medical Association has a longstanding policy against doctors participating in executions, including selecting injection sites or starting IV lines, given their oath to "do no harm." It also says it is unethical for doctors to be present at executions, including declaring an inmate dead. That's because a doctor might be put in the position of saying more drugs are needed if the first doses weren't lethal. AMA policy is not legally binding and some states allow doctor participation. Oklahoma protocol calls for a physician to "monitor the condemned offender's level of consciousness." A doctor in the death chamber with Clayton Lockett appeared to do so.

---

AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner can be reached at www.twitter.com/LindseyTanner


Source : Sapa-AP /aw
Date : 30 Apr 2014 23:03
 
BOTCHED EXECUTION OFFERS NEW EVIDENCE TO ATTORNEYS
By JIM SALTER

A bungled execution in Oklahoma provides death penalty opponents with a fresh, startling example of how lethal injections can go wrong. But the odds of successfully challenging the United States' main form of capital punishment will probably hinge on exactly what caused the inmate's apparent agony.

If four-time convicted felon Clayton Lockett suffered because of a collapsed vein or improperly inserted needle on Tuesday, it would suggest human error was to blame rather than an underlying flaw in the execution system.

If the drugs or the secrecy surrounding them played a role, defense attorneys could have a wider legal opening to attack the injection method, plus powerful new evidence to press the U.S. Supreme Court to get involved, legal experts say.

A day after the execution went awry, attorneys for some death-row inmates began planning new appeals or updating existing cases based on events in Oklahoma. Many called for moratoriums and independent investigations.

"Every prison is saying, 'We have it under control, trust us,'" said Texas attorney Maurie Levin, who spent Wednesday preparing new briefs questioning that state's execution practices. "This just underscores in bold that we can't trust them, and prisons have to be accountable to the public and transparent in the method by which they carry out executions."

The 38-year-old Lockett, convicted of shooting a woman and watching as two accomplices buried her alive, was declared unconscious 10 minutes after the first of three drugs was administered Tuesday. Three minutes later, he began breathing heavily, writhing, clenching his teeth and straining to lift his head.

Authorities halted the execution, but Lockett died of a suspected heart attack more than 40 minutes after the process began.

An autopsy was conducted Wednesday to determine his precise cause of death, and Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin named a member of her cabinet to lead a review of the state's execution procedures.

The White House said the execution fell short of the humane standards required.

Courts, including the Supreme Court, have been reluctant to halt executions over arguments that they violate an inmate's constitutional guarantee against cruel and unusual punishment. In four rulings over the past 135 years, the Supreme Court has upheld the use of the firing squad (1879), the electric chair (1890), the ability of a state to try to execute a condemned inmate by electrocution again after a first attempt failed (1947) and lethal injection (2008).

The Constitution "does not demand the avoidance of all risk of pain in carrying out executions," Chief Justice John Roberts said in the court's 2008 decision upholding Kentucky's lethal injection system.

Still, a minority of the high court has shown some recent trepidation about the secrecy of the process used by many states.

Many states - Oklahoma, Texas and Missouri among them - purchase execution drugs from lightly regulated compounding pharmacies and refuse to name the supplier, whether the drug has been tested, even who is part of the execution team.

In February, three justices - two short of the required five - said they would have blocked the execution of Michael Anthony Taylor in Missouri. A month later, four justices fell one vote short of blocking the execution of another Missouri inmate, Jeffrey Ferguson. They offered no explanation for their vote.

If Tuesday's problems are traced to a collapsed vein, the high court "probably won't feel a lot more pressure to step in," said Thomas Goldstein, an experienced Supreme Court lawyer who also has represented death-row inmates. But if the injection chemicals themselves and the state's secrecy emerge as important factors, "there will be great pressure for them to hear a case and require transparency."

Madeline Cohen represents Charles Warner, an Oklahoma inmate who was scheduled to be executed Tuesday just hours after Lockett. She said she plans new appeals on behalf of Warner, whose execution was postponed for at least two weeks.

She also is pressing for an independent investigation of Lockett's death, including examination of his remains by an independent pathologist.

In Missouri, convicted killer Russell Bucklew is scheduled to die May 21. His attorney, Cheryl Pilate, said she plans to file new appeals next week seeking to halt the execution or at least delay it until the state's procedures "are subject to full disclosure."

The potential for something to go wrong is escalated for Bucklew, Pilate said, because he suffers from a lifelong medical condition that has left his blood vessels malformed and weakened. It's so bad that he often bleeds from the eyes, Pilate said.

"Executions are not medical acts," Pilate said. "They are experiments conducted on human subjects with no accountability or oversight."

The White House stopped short of suggesting a moratorium. Legislatures and governors could also order investigations or a temporary halt to executions. So far, only Oklahoma's governor has taken action.

Missouri's protocol has been upheld by the courts and Gov. Jay Nixon continues to support "the ultimate punishment" for the "most merciless and violent crimes," spokeswoman Ansley Channing said.

Ohio planned to follow its normal procedures, including an exam of the condemned inmate three weeks before the execution to evaluate his veins and plan for the insertion of intravenous needles.

Jerry Cox, president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, said the botched Oklahoma execution should "shock the conscience of all Americans," even those who previously supported the death penalty.

"Most of the world and virtually all democracies have abandoned the death penalty," Cox said. "This is just horrific."

Tuesday's problems marked the third time this year that an execution raised concerns about an inmate's suffering.

In January, Ohio inmate Dennis McGuire took 26 minutes to die, gasping repeatedly as he lay on a gurney with his mouth opening and closing. That same month, Oklahoma inmate Michael Lee Wilson's final words were, "I feel my whole body burning."


Source : Sapa-AP /nsm
Date : 01 May 2014 02:25
 
OBAMA: BOTCHED OKLAHOMA EXECUTION 'DEEPLY TROUBLING'

US President Barack Obama said Friday the botched execution in Oklahoma of a convicted murderer who was left writhing in agony after having a lethal injection was "deeply troubling."

Obama argued there are some crimes so heinous that capital punishment could be merited, but warned the incident on Tuesday raised "significant questions about how the death penalty is being applied."

Clayton Lockett, a convicted murderer and rapist, was administered a new, untested three-drug protocol.

He died 43 minutes after the start of the injection -- the process usually takes 10 minutes -- prompting allegations of torture.

"What happened in Oklahoma is deeply troubling," Obama admitted during a joint White House news conference with visiting German leader Chancellor Angela Merkel.

"The individual who was subject to the death penalty had committed heinous crimes, terrible crimes.

"And I've said in the past that there are certain circumstances in which a crime is so terrible that the application of the death penalty may be appropriate -- mass killings, the killings of children.

"But I've also said that in the application of the death penalty in this country, we've seen significant problems. Racial bias.

"An uneven application of the death penalty. Situations in which there were individuals on death row who later on were discovered to have been innocent because of exculpatory evidence.

"And all these, I think, do raise significant questions about how the death penalty is being applied."


Source : Sapa-AFP /ns
Date : 02 May 2014 19:22
 
US LAWMAKERS SAY THEY WON'T ABANDON DEATH PENALTY
By NOMAAN MERCHANT

A bungled execution in Oklahoma in which the condemned prisoner writhed and moaned as he received a lethal injection outraged death-penalty opponents, invited court challenges and attracted worldwide attention.

But the inmate's agony alone is highly unlikely to change minds about capital punishment in the most active U.S. death-penalty states, where lawmakers say there is little political will to move against lethal injections - and a single execution gone wrong won't change that.

Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian, a Republican lawmaker who pushed to have state Supreme Court justices impeached for briefly halting Tuesday's execution, was unsparing.

"I realize this may sound harsh," Christian said, "but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."

Attorneys for death-row inmates hope Tuesday's spectacle provides new evidence to argue that the injections are inhumane and illegal. But beyond the courtroom, support for capital punishment is undeterred in the states that perform the greatest number of executions - Texas, Oklahoma, Florida, Missouri, Alabama, Georgia and Ohio. And nowhere in those places are any elected officials of either political party talking seriously about using the incident to seek an end to executions.

Missouri Rep. Paul Fitzwater, a Republican who chairs the state House's corrections committee, called the botched execution "horrible" and "definitely not humane" but said it had not sparked any calls for reform.

Oklahoma prison officials say Tuesday's execution of Clayton Lockett went awry when an intravenous line of deadly drugs became dislodged. He later died from an apparent heart attack. Lockett had been condemned for shooting a 19-year-old girl with a sawed-off shotgun and watching as two accomplices buried her alive.

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin has stayed an upcoming execution as prison officials investigate, but she too reaffirmed her support for capital punishment.

On Friday, President Barack Obama said the Oklahoma event highlighted problems with the death penalty and he's asking his attorney general for a review.

Surveys by Gallup indicate that support for the death penalty remains strong in the United States, though it has declined over the last 20 years, from 80 percent in favor of capital punishment in 1992 to 60 percent two years ago.

There are signs of a shift, primarily in the West and Northeast, after almost four decades in which no state legislatures voted to end executions.

Five states - New Jersey, New Mexico, Illinois, Connecticut and Maryland - have formally abolished the death penalty in the last seven years, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, which opposes capital punishment. New York's death penalty was abolished by a court, and several other states have placed executions on hold. An anti-death penalty bill in New Hampshire fell one vote short of passage.

Lawmakers in those states most often cited factors besides problems with lethal injection. Several governors cited the risk that an innocent person could be executed or the skyrocketing costs of fighting appeals in death-row cases.

"The main factor was the miscarriage of justice," former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said Friday in an interview. "I was aware of the serious problems with lethal injections, but it was not at the top." Richardson signed his state's abolition bill in 2009 and has since campaigned against the death penalty in other states. He described meeting with several exonerated death row inmates - there are more than 140 nationwide - as well as families of victims and law enforcement officials. He predicted that the botched execution would weigh on other governors considering the death penalty.

Texas has executed 515 inmates since reinstating the death penalty in 1982, by far more than any other state. Gov. Rick Perry and both the Republican and Democratic candidates for governor have repeated their support for capital punishment and their confidence in Texas' system.

Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, which opposes capital punishment, predicted the execution's biggest effect would be in the courts, where Oklahoma, Texas and other states are being challenged to name execution drug suppliers. The states argue they must keep the names secret to protect suppliers and ensure they can get the hard-to-obtain drugs.

Juries in Texas are already giving fewer death sentences, suggesting a larger shift, said Kristin Houle, executive director of the Texas Coalition to End the Death Penalty.

"It's not going to be just one thing that pushes the issue over the edge," she said.

One of the men wrongfully sentenced to death predicted that it would take more. Anthony Graves was sent to death row for killing six people in South Texas based on a co-defendant's false testimony. He was freed in 2010 after 18 years in prison.

Graves blamed lawmakers who follow polls that show enduring support for the death penalty.

"What has to happen is someone famous, someone that they admire, has to be falsely accused or has to be convicted, to where they say, 'Oh my God, this has become an epidemic,' because now they can relate," he said in an interview.


Source : Sapa-AP /ns
Date : 03 May 2014 18:15
 
OrbitalDawn said:
Interesting that you consider his behaviour as a reasonable benchmark.
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In as much as I don't disagree with you on this, Vegeta has a valid point also. The constitution should be changed from prohibiting cruel and unusual punishment to mandating same and equal punishment applied by condemned.

You rape you get raped, you rape and kill same happens to you, etc.

Eye for an eye, nothing more nothing less.
 
OrbitalDawn said:
Interesting that you consider his behaviour as a reasonable benchmark.
Click to expand...
I absolutely consider his behaviour as a reasonable benchmark for HIM based on what he's done. He set the benchmark for himself, he has no one but himself to blame neither do you.
 
RIGHTS PANEL URGES 'IMPARTIAL' PROBE INTO BOTCHED US EXECUTION

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights called Tuesday for an "impartial" probe into a botched execution in Oklahoma, urging the US state not put any more inmates to death until a full review is done.

Clayton Lockett, a convicted murderer and rapist, was administered a new, untested three-drug protocol on April 29.

He died 43 minutes after the start of the injection -- the process usually takes 10 minutes -- prompting allegations of torture.

"The Inter-American Commission condemns the agonizing death of Clayton Lockett and reminds the United States of its international obligation not to expose persons under its jurisdiction to cruel and unusual punishment," the IACHR said in a statement.

"The commission calls on the United States and the state of Oklahoma to conduct an independent and impartial investigation of the death of Mr. Lockett and to indefinitely stay pending executions until the state's execution protocol is fully reviewed."

The Washington-based body said the United States is the only country in the Western hemisphere to carry out capital punishment.

It welcomed moves by some US states to abolish the death penalty or impose a moratorium on executions, encouraging Oklahoma to follow suit.

President Barack Obama -- while arguing there are some crimes so heinous that capital punishment could be merited -- called last week's incident "deeply troubling" and warned it raised "significant questions about how the death penalty is being applied."

The IACHR said it "welcomes this important statement by President Obama and hopes that this process is a step toward the gradual disappearance of the death penalty in the United States."


Source : Sapa-AFP /mjs
Date : 06 May 2014 20:00
 
JUDGE REFUSES TO POSTPONE NEXT US EXECUTION

A federal judge in the US state of Missouri refused Monday to postpone an execution, which would be the first since a botched lethal injection ignited a national debate.

Russell Bucklew is set to be put to death on Wednesday in Bonne Terre for the murder of a love rival and the rape of his former girlfriend.

However, the inmate says a rare medical condition, which leaves him with growths on his head and neck, creates significant risk that he will die a painful death similar to that endured by an Oklahoma man whose botched execution has prompted accusations of torture.

Bucklew requested the postponement as well as the right to have his lethal injection filmed for use as evidence of his suffering.

A tormented and painful death is in violation of the Constitution's Eighth Amendment prohibiting cruel and unusual punishment.

But in a 17-page decision, Judge Beth Phillips refused to delay the execution, finding Bucklew's affidavits "insufficient to conclude that any adverse consequences Bucklew may suffer rise to the level of unconstitutional pain."

She also ruled Bucklew's lawyers don't have the right to information on the origin of the products to be used in his execution.

US states using the death penalty face critical shortages of lethal injection drugs after European firms stopped supplying pentobarbital.

The shortage has prompted many US states to turn to compounding pharmacies to supply untested execution cocktails instead.

"We will immediately appeal," said Bucklew's lawyer Cheryl Pilate.

"Missouri cannot move forward with the execution of Russell Bucklew on May 21 until much more is known about the drugs the state plans to use and the particular effect the drugs will have on Mr Bucklew," she added.

Barring a suspension by the Supreme Court, Bucklew's execution, set for Wednesday at 12:01 am (0401 GMT), will be the first since that of Clayton Lockett in Oklahoma last month.

Lockett, a convicted killer and rapist, was put to death on April 29 by lethal injection, in a process that took 43 minutes, well over the expected time of a little over 10 minutes.


Source : Sapa-AFP /mjs
Date : 20 May 2014 00:46
 
Pic of Bucklew

RB.jpg

Always nice to see the face of a death row convict about to get his last gift
 
However, the inmate says a rare medical condition, which leaves him with growths on his head and neck, creates significant risk that he will die a painful death similar to that endured by an Oklahoma man whose botched execution has prompted accusations of torture.
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How does he know this?

Just to add: I am opposed to the death penalty.
 
he should have thought about his actions when he murdered his love rival now shouldn't he.
 
I found this letter very interesting. Written by David Arenberg, a Jewish guy inside a heavily racially segregated state prison who was having problems fitting in his eating habits.

Not that there's anywhere else I could eat. The prison yard is broken down into five distinct racial categories and segregation is strictly enforced. There are the "woods" (short for peckerwoods) that encompass the whites, the "kinfolk" (blacks), the "Raza" (American-born people of Mexican descent), the "paisas" (Mexico-born Mexicans), and the "chiefs" (American Indians). Under the strict rules that govern interracial relations, different races are allowed to play on the same sports teams but not play individual games (e.g., chess) together; they may be in each others' cubicles together if the situation warrants but not sit on each others' beds or watch each others' televisions. They may go to the same church services but not pray together. But if you accidentally break one of these rules, the consequences are usually pretty mild: you might get a talking to by one of the heads (who, of course, claims exemption from this rule himself), or at worst, a "chin check."

Eating with another race, however, is a different story. It is an inviolate rule that different races may not break bread together under any circumstances. Violating this rule leads to harsh consequences. If you eat at the same table as another race, you'll get beaten down. If you eat from the same tray as another race, you'll be put in the hospital. And if you eat from the same food item as another race, that is, after another race has already taken a bite of it, you can get killed. This is one area where even the heads don't have any play.

This makes it difficult for me, of course, to fit into the chow hall. Jews, as we all know, are not white but imposters who don white skin and hide inside it for the purpose of polluting and taking over the white race. The skinheads simply can't allow me to eat with them: that would make them traitors of the worst kind — race traitors! But my milky skin and pasty complexion, characteristic of the Eastern European Ashkenazi, make it impossible for me to eat with other races who don't understand the subtleties of my treachery and take me for just another wood. So the compromise is that I may sit at certain white tables after all the whites have finished eating. In exchange, I must do free legal work as directed by the heads (Jewish lawyers, even jailhouse lawyers, are hard to come by in prison) and remit to them a portion of the legal fees I collect from everyone else I do legal work for on the yard.
Click to expand...

Also follow www.deathpenaltyinfo.org some interesting info and data.
 
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