Post by Anja Nieser on Sept 14, 2006 11:58:35 GMT -5
Judge ousts Missouri's execution doctor
The doctor who supervised Missouri's lethal injections for more than a
decade will no longer be allowed to participate in them under the terms of
a federal judge's ruling this week.
Dr. Alan Doerhoff testified anonymously in federal court in Kansas City on
June 5 that dyslexia caused him at times to confuse numbers, give
inconsistent testimony and call drugs by the wrong name.
U.S. District Judge Fernando Gaitan Jr. found the testimony so troubling
that he ordered a temporary halt to Missouri executions, saying he had
concerns about the doctor's qualifications and whether Missouri's
condemned might be subjected to unconstitutionally cruel punishment.
Doerhoff remained anonymous until the Post-Dispatch reported his name on
July 30 and revealed that he had been reprimanded by the state Board of
Healing Arts and denied staff privileges by 2 hospitals.
In an order Tuesday, Gaitan gave the state until Oct. 27 to submit a new
lethal-injection protocol to better ensure that the state's 3-drug
execution method does not violate an inmates' constitutional freedom from
cruel and unusual punishment.
It will be the second time the state has submitted revised procedures
since Gaitan halted executions in June. On Tuesday, the judge issued 8
requirements if Missouri officials wished to continue using lethal
injection, noting that the state had already met some of them.
First on Gaitan's list was that Doerhoff, identified in court documents as
"John Doe 1," not participate "in any manner, at any level in the State of
Missouri's lethal injection process."
Gaitan declined to comment on Wednesday. Doerhoff could not be reached.
Brian Hauswirth, spokesman for the Missouri Department of Corrections,
said the state had little objection to Gaitan's ban of Doerhoff. But he
said the state continued to believe its execution protocol was humane and
constitutional, and that officials were "reviewing legal options" to
challenge Gaitan's order.
Gaitan eased a previous requirement he had set for Missouri to hire an
anesthesiologist to oversee the lethal injections. Missouri officials,
unable to find an anesthesiologist who was willing, complained that
Gaitan's order had effectively banned executions.
In Tuesday's order, Gaitan said he was not trying to stop executions. He
modified his previous ruling, saying the state could use a physician from
a different discipline as long as he or she was trained in giving
anesthesia.
Missouri's execution doctor must be in good standing with his state's
licensing board and not have had disciplinary action taken against him by
the licensing authority, Gaitan ruled.
Defense lawyers have attacked the lethal injection method, arguing that if
the condemned is not properly sedated by the anesthetic given 1st, the
paralytic drug that comes next would prevent the executioner from
realizing it before administering a heart-stopping drug that is considered
painful.
(source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
The doctor who supervised Missouri's lethal injections for more than a
decade will no longer be allowed to participate in them under the terms of
a federal judge's ruling this week.
Dr. Alan Doerhoff testified anonymously in federal court in Kansas City on
June 5 that dyslexia caused him at times to confuse numbers, give
inconsistent testimony and call drugs by the wrong name.
U.S. District Judge Fernando Gaitan Jr. found the testimony so troubling
that he ordered a temporary halt to Missouri executions, saying he had
concerns about the doctor's qualifications and whether Missouri's
condemned might be subjected to unconstitutionally cruel punishment.
Doerhoff remained anonymous until the Post-Dispatch reported his name on
July 30 and revealed that he had been reprimanded by the state Board of
Healing Arts and denied staff privileges by 2 hospitals.
In an order Tuesday, Gaitan gave the state until Oct. 27 to submit a new
lethal-injection protocol to better ensure that the state's 3-drug
execution method does not violate an inmates' constitutional freedom from
cruel and unusual punishment.
It will be the second time the state has submitted revised procedures
since Gaitan halted executions in June. On Tuesday, the judge issued 8
requirements if Missouri officials wished to continue using lethal
injection, noting that the state had already met some of them.
First on Gaitan's list was that Doerhoff, identified in court documents as
"John Doe 1," not participate "in any manner, at any level in the State of
Missouri's lethal injection process."
Gaitan declined to comment on Wednesday. Doerhoff could not be reached.
Brian Hauswirth, spokesman for the Missouri Department of Corrections,
said the state had little objection to Gaitan's ban of Doerhoff. But he
said the state continued to believe its execution protocol was humane and
constitutional, and that officials were "reviewing legal options" to
challenge Gaitan's order.
Gaitan eased a previous requirement he had set for Missouri to hire an
anesthesiologist to oversee the lethal injections. Missouri officials,
unable to find an anesthesiologist who was willing, complained that
Gaitan's order had effectively banned executions.
In Tuesday's order, Gaitan said he was not trying to stop executions. He
modified his previous ruling, saying the state could use a physician from
a different discipline as long as he or she was trained in giving
anesthesia.
Missouri's execution doctor must be in good standing with his state's
licensing board and not have had disciplinary action taken against him by
the licensing authority, Gaitan ruled.
Defense lawyers have attacked the lethal injection method, arguing that if
the condemned is not properly sedated by the anesthetic given 1st, the
paralytic drug that comes next would prevent the executioner from
realizing it before administering a heart-stopping drug that is considered
painful.
(source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch)