Post by Anja Nieser on Sept 19, 2006 16:45:07 GMT -5
Evans' Lawyer: Death Penalty Is Unconstitutional
A death row inmate's lawyer argued Monday in federal court that Maryland's
lethal injection process could cause "horrific and painful death" in
violation of the Constitution's ban against cruel and unusual punishment.
But the state contended the process was quick and painless.
WJZ's Adam May has been following the case. May spoke with Evans' lawyer
who is arguing the state's method of execution is unconstitutional.
A. Stephen Hut Jr., an attorney for Vernon Evans Jr., attacked the way the
3-drug thingytail used in the process are administered. He also questioned
the qualifications of the execution team.
Hut said his client's veins have been so badly damaged from years of drug
abuse that lethal injection could cause extreme pain without more careful
attention than has been available in past executions.
But Laura Mullally, an attorney representing the state, said Hut's
argument has a "wolf-in-sheep's-clothing aspect." She emphasized that "an
execution is not a medical procedure."
"It is the antithesis of medical treatment," Mullally said, adding that
American Medical Association rules prohibit doctors from participating in
executions. Mullally said medical records indicated none of the five men
executed in Maryland since 1994 felt pain while being put to death.
Hut, however, said Maryland's current protocol for carrying out lethal
injection in Maryland must be changed to avoid being unconstitutionally
cruel. Hut cited a similar process used in Ohio, which announced plans to
change its system in June after experiencing a 90-minute delay in putting
a man to death because officials could not find a viable vein to inject
the lethal drugs.
Hut said witnesses heard moans and groans from behind a closed curtain as
a viable vein was sought, and that a witness will testify in Baltimore
about what happened.
Maryland uses three drugs during executions. Sodium pentothal makes the
inmate unconscious, pancurium bromide paralyzes the inmate's breathing and
potassium chloride stops the heart. State law calls for the lethal
injection to consist of an "ultra-short acting barbiturate" combined with
a "chemical paralytic agent" to cause death.
Hut said the process needs someone trained with knowledge of
anesthesiology to be in the execution chamber while the drugs are being
injected in case something goes wrong. He also criticized the logistics of
the rooms used in the execution.
Hut also questioned the qualifications of people who serve on the
execution team, saying supervisors have a "cursory at best" understanding
of participants' past professional and disciplinary records.
The case, which is being heard in federal court in Baltimore by U.S.
District Judge Benson Legg, will include testimony from doctors and
members of the execution team, whose anonymity will be protected by
closing the courtroom to the public when they testify.
Evans was sentenced to die for the murders of Scott Piechowicz and his
sister-in-law, Susan Kennedy, in 1983. In February, Maryland's Court of
Appeals stayed his execution.
The state's highest court heard arguments in 4 separate cases in May,
including a claim that racial bias played a role in the decision by
prosecutors to ask that he be executed.
The court has yet to rule on those cases.
(source: WJZ News)
A death row inmate's lawyer argued Monday in federal court that Maryland's
lethal injection process could cause "horrific and painful death" in
violation of the Constitution's ban against cruel and unusual punishment.
But the state contended the process was quick and painless.
WJZ's Adam May has been following the case. May spoke with Evans' lawyer
who is arguing the state's method of execution is unconstitutional.
A. Stephen Hut Jr., an attorney for Vernon Evans Jr., attacked the way the
3-drug thingytail used in the process are administered. He also questioned
the qualifications of the execution team.
Hut said his client's veins have been so badly damaged from years of drug
abuse that lethal injection could cause extreme pain without more careful
attention than has been available in past executions.
But Laura Mullally, an attorney representing the state, said Hut's
argument has a "wolf-in-sheep's-clothing aspect." She emphasized that "an
execution is not a medical procedure."
"It is the antithesis of medical treatment," Mullally said, adding that
American Medical Association rules prohibit doctors from participating in
executions. Mullally said medical records indicated none of the five men
executed in Maryland since 1994 felt pain while being put to death.
Hut, however, said Maryland's current protocol for carrying out lethal
injection in Maryland must be changed to avoid being unconstitutionally
cruel. Hut cited a similar process used in Ohio, which announced plans to
change its system in June after experiencing a 90-minute delay in putting
a man to death because officials could not find a viable vein to inject
the lethal drugs.
Hut said witnesses heard moans and groans from behind a closed curtain as
a viable vein was sought, and that a witness will testify in Baltimore
about what happened.
Maryland uses three drugs during executions. Sodium pentothal makes the
inmate unconscious, pancurium bromide paralyzes the inmate's breathing and
potassium chloride stops the heart. State law calls for the lethal
injection to consist of an "ultra-short acting barbiturate" combined with
a "chemical paralytic agent" to cause death.
Hut said the process needs someone trained with knowledge of
anesthesiology to be in the execution chamber while the drugs are being
injected in case something goes wrong. He also criticized the logistics of
the rooms used in the execution.
Hut also questioned the qualifications of people who serve on the
execution team, saying supervisors have a "cursory at best" understanding
of participants' past professional and disciplinary records.
The case, which is being heard in federal court in Baltimore by U.S.
District Judge Benson Legg, will include testimony from doctors and
members of the execution team, whose anonymity will be protected by
closing the courtroom to the public when they testify.
Evans was sentenced to die for the murders of Scott Piechowicz and his
sister-in-law, Susan Kennedy, in 1983. In February, Maryland's Court of
Appeals stayed his execution.
The state's highest court heard arguments in 4 separate cases in May,
including a claim that racial bias played a role in the decision by
prosecutors to ask that he be executed.
The court has yet to rule on those cases.
(source: WJZ News)