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Ohio Governor Halts Two More Executions

By Jeralyn, Section Death Penalty
Posted on Tue Oct 06, 2009 at 08:33:00 AM EST
Tags: Ohio death penalty (all tags)
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In the wake of the botched execution of Romell Broom, and an appellate court's ruling that another scheduled execution, that of Lawrence R. Reynolds Jr., should be postponed indefinitely due to concerns about the state's lethal injection protocols, Ohio Governor Ted Strickland has postponed two more executions.

The state is looking into backup procedures in case the standard execution techniques fail, as they did on Sept. 15, when technicians at the state prison in Lucasville tried for over two hours to maintain an intravenous connection in order to inject Romell Broom with lethal drugs for the abduction, rape and murder of a teenage girl in 1984. A hearing to consider whether Mr. Broom can be executed in conformity with constitutional requirements is scheduled for Nov. 30.

“More research and evaluation of backup or alternative procedures is necessary before one or more can be selected,” Mr. Strickland said in his order.

[More...]

According to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals:

....the majority on the panel of United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit said the failed execution of Mr. Broom, coupled with the troubled executions of two other inmates since 2006, raised important questions about Ohio’s protocols and its ability to carry them out effectively.

The Ohio Attorney General's office is still trying to overturn the stay on Reynolds:

“The panel majority’s issuance of a stay to Reynolds, based merely on the possibility that ‘something could go wrong,’ in accessing his veins, effectively amounts to a judicially imposed moratorium on Ohio’s death penalty,” the appeal said.

So a defacto moratorium is in effect in Ohio, but it seems it's only until Ohio finishes developing a "backup" plan and it won't be for long:

The state expects to have backup procedures in place in time to execute another inmate, Kenneth Biros, on Dec. 8,[Gov. Strickland] said.

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    Ohio Governor Halts Two More Executions | 2 comments (2 topical)

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    A backup procedure? (none / 0) (#1)
    by lentinel on Tue Oct 06, 2009 at 08:36:12 AM EST
    What would that be?
    Shoot the guy?

    No just send him to Texas (none / 0) (#2)
    by Saul on Tue Oct 06, 2009 at 09:52:57 AM EST
    We kill one or two a month down here.

    Texas is an expert at this.

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    Ohio Governor Halts Two More Executions | 2 comments (2 topical)

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