Post by Anja Nieser on Sept 6, 2006 18:23:05 GMT -5
Problems Alleged in Execution of Crips Co-Founder----Lawyers for another
condemned inmate say Stanley Tookie Williams may have felt horrible pain.
Prison officials allowed the execution of convicted murderer Stanley
Tookie Williams to proceed, even though a nurse had failed to hook up a
backup intravenous line minutes before authorities delivered the lethal
injection drugs, according to court filings made public Tuesday.
Defense attorneys for a man on death row at San Quentin cited the problem
as part of a legal challenge to California's lethal injection procedure.
Later this month, U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel in San Jose will hear
the challenge, which asserts that condemned prisoners may not be properly
anesthetized and therefore experience excruciating pain during executions.
Attorneys for Michael Morales also assert in the newly unveiled court
papers that California's execution protocol "is performed by prison
personnel with criminal records of misconduct and who lack skill,
competence, professionalism, patience, stability, training,
qualifications, mental health and the necessary character to perform
executions and the tasks associated with executions."
The team leader during the execution of Williams, a co-founder of the
Crips gang who was convicted in the 1979 killings of 4 people, was
suspended for misconduct, the papers contend. No details were provided.
Many paragraphs of the legal pleadings were blacked out, under an order
issued by Judge Fogel earlier this year that nothing be made public that
would tend to identify a member of the execution team.
The over-arching contention of Morales' lawyers is that California's
lethal injection protocol, which was modified in March, violates the 8th
Amendment's prohibition on the "infliction of unnecessary pain in the
execution of the death sentence."
California's protocol "is implemented under unacceptable conditions that
unnecessarily increase the risk of unconstitutional pain, including .
obstructed views" that make it very difficult for prison personnel to see
if an inmate is sufficiently anesthetized before the lethal drugs are
administered, according to the papers submitted by attorneys David Senior,
John Grele and Richard Steinken.
In addition, they say the procedure is flawed by inadequate lighting,
remote administration of the drugs, unqualified management and "the
absence of meaningful participation by properly licensed medical
personnel."
Deputy Atty. Gen. Dane Gillette countered in legal papers that "conducting
a lethal injection execution" under California's protocol "does not result
in cruel and unusual punishment or deprive [Morales] of any right under
the 8th or 14th amendments" to the U.S. Constitution.
Morales, 46, was scheduled to die in February for the 1981 slaying in
Lodi, Calif., of teenager Terri Winchell. But state officials called off
the execution after they were unable to meet conditions set by Fogel.
California is one of several states where lawyers for condemned inmates
have alleged that lethal injection, considered a more humane procedure
than previous methods, often masks a painful death.
The California protocol calls for the inmate to be walked into the
execution chamber and strapped onto a gurney. A nurse or medical
technician inserts a catheter into the prisoner's vein, then leaves and
the execution chamber is closed. A member of the execution team in an
adjoining room inserts, in succession, 3 syringes containing the lethal
drug thingytail into an intravenous line that flows into the prisoner.
How that procedure works in practice will be the subject of the court
hearing starting Sept. 26. In preparation for the hearing, lawyers for
Morales and California correctional authorities submitted a 22-page joint
statement of "undisputed facts" and a five-page statement of "disputed
facts."
The statements were drawn up by the lawyers after extensive pretrial
discovery, including depositions of numerous individuals who have
participated in executions at San Quentin.
Among the disputed defense contentions was that conducting an execution is
"a surrealistic experience.. Warden Steven Ornoski was practically beside
himself during the Stanley Williams execution."
Morales' lawyers painted a picture of earlier executions at San Quentin as
chaotic and largely unmonitored by trained personnel. Wardens during the
last 3 California executions refrained from looking at any part of the
condemned inmate other than his feet, defense attorneys said.
During Williams' execution in December, a nurse struggled to start the
backup line in the prisoner's left arm, then in frustration left the
chamber without setting it properly.
As she exited, a member of the execution team said: "It wasn't flowing,
the drip wasn't flowing." Before the door closed behind the nurse, a team
member repeated, "The left wasn't running," according to the defense
attorneys' filing.
Ornoski, standing in the center of the anteroom, said "Proceed" and the
execution of the 51-year-old went forward, the defense said.
Corrections officials did not dispute other points raised by the defense,
including:
- There is no doctor or registered nurse on the execution team at San
Quentin and there is no requirement that a registered nurse be on the
team.
- Execution team members are not required to undergo psychological
testing.
- During the last 8 California executions, team members did not practice
mixing sodium thiopental, the fast-acting barbiturate that is supposed to
anesthetize the inmate before the 2nd 2 drugs - pancuronium bromide, which
paralyzes the inmate, and potassium chloride, which causes cardiac arrest
- are administered.
- The team member who handled the syringes during the last 2 executions
was not trained how to make a visual inspection of whether the lines
properly delivered the drugs.
- During Williams' execution, team members inside and outside the death
chamber didn't determine or couldn't tell that the line was not set
properly.
After Morales' execution was postponed, California in March revised its
execution protocol. The state released a redacted copy of the protocol and
said at the time that because of security reasons the unredacted document
would not be released to the public.
Under the old protocol, the execution team 1st administered 5 grams of
sodium thiopental. Under the new protocol, the execution team will
initially administer 1.5 grams of sodium thiopental. Then, the state will
administer 5 more grams of thiopental through an intravenous drip set at a
rate that will take 20 to 30 minutes to run out - past the point the
prisoner is expected to be dead. In the meantime, the 2 lethal drugs will
be administered.
According to the statement of undisputed facts, "no state other than
California" uses an initial dose of sodium thiopental that is less than 2
grams.
(source: Los Angeles Times)
condemned inmate say Stanley Tookie Williams may have felt horrible pain.
Prison officials allowed the execution of convicted murderer Stanley
Tookie Williams to proceed, even though a nurse had failed to hook up a
backup intravenous line minutes before authorities delivered the lethal
injection drugs, according to court filings made public Tuesday.
Defense attorneys for a man on death row at San Quentin cited the problem
as part of a legal challenge to California's lethal injection procedure.
Later this month, U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel in San Jose will hear
the challenge, which asserts that condemned prisoners may not be properly
anesthetized and therefore experience excruciating pain during executions.
Attorneys for Michael Morales also assert in the newly unveiled court
papers that California's execution protocol "is performed by prison
personnel with criminal records of misconduct and who lack skill,
competence, professionalism, patience, stability, training,
qualifications, mental health and the necessary character to perform
executions and the tasks associated with executions."
The team leader during the execution of Williams, a co-founder of the
Crips gang who was convicted in the 1979 killings of 4 people, was
suspended for misconduct, the papers contend. No details were provided.
Many paragraphs of the legal pleadings were blacked out, under an order
issued by Judge Fogel earlier this year that nothing be made public that
would tend to identify a member of the execution team.
The over-arching contention of Morales' lawyers is that California's
lethal injection protocol, which was modified in March, violates the 8th
Amendment's prohibition on the "infliction of unnecessary pain in the
execution of the death sentence."
California's protocol "is implemented under unacceptable conditions that
unnecessarily increase the risk of unconstitutional pain, including .
obstructed views" that make it very difficult for prison personnel to see
if an inmate is sufficiently anesthetized before the lethal drugs are
administered, according to the papers submitted by attorneys David Senior,
John Grele and Richard Steinken.
In addition, they say the procedure is flawed by inadequate lighting,
remote administration of the drugs, unqualified management and "the
absence of meaningful participation by properly licensed medical
personnel."
Deputy Atty. Gen. Dane Gillette countered in legal papers that "conducting
a lethal injection execution" under California's protocol "does not result
in cruel and unusual punishment or deprive [Morales] of any right under
the 8th or 14th amendments" to the U.S. Constitution.
Morales, 46, was scheduled to die in February for the 1981 slaying in
Lodi, Calif., of teenager Terri Winchell. But state officials called off
the execution after they were unable to meet conditions set by Fogel.
California is one of several states where lawyers for condemned inmates
have alleged that lethal injection, considered a more humane procedure
than previous methods, often masks a painful death.
The California protocol calls for the inmate to be walked into the
execution chamber and strapped onto a gurney. A nurse or medical
technician inserts a catheter into the prisoner's vein, then leaves and
the execution chamber is closed. A member of the execution team in an
adjoining room inserts, in succession, 3 syringes containing the lethal
drug thingytail into an intravenous line that flows into the prisoner.
How that procedure works in practice will be the subject of the court
hearing starting Sept. 26. In preparation for the hearing, lawyers for
Morales and California correctional authorities submitted a 22-page joint
statement of "undisputed facts" and a five-page statement of "disputed
facts."
The statements were drawn up by the lawyers after extensive pretrial
discovery, including depositions of numerous individuals who have
participated in executions at San Quentin.
Among the disputed defense contentions was that conducting an execution is
"a surrealistic experience.. Warden Steven Ornoski was practically beside
himself during the Stanley Williams execution."
Morales' lawyers painted a picture of earlier executions at San Quentin as
chaotic and largely unmonitored by trained personnel. Wardens during the
last 3 California executions refrained from looking at any part of the
condemned inmate other than his feet, defense attorneys said.
During Williams' execution in December, a nurse struggled to start the
backup line in the prisoner's left arm, then in frustration left the
chamber without setting it properly.
As she exited, a member of the execution team said: "It wasn't flowing,
the drip wasn't flowing." Before the door closed behind the nurse, a team
member repeated, "The left wasn't running," according to the defense
attorneys' filing.
Ornoski, standing in the center of the anteroom, said "Proceed" and the
execution of the 51-year-old went forward, the defense said.
Corrections officials did not dispute other points raised by the defense,
including:
- There is no doctor or registered nurse on the execution team at San
Quentin and there is no requirement that a registered nurse be on the
team.
- Execution team members are not required to undergo psychological
testing.
- During the last 8 California executions, team members did not practice
mixing sodium thiopental, the fast-acting barbiturate that is supposed to
anesthetize the inmate before the 2nd 2 drugs - pancuronium bromide, which
paralyzes the inmate, and potassium chloride, which causes cardiac arrest
- are administered.
- The team member who handled the syringes during the last 2 executions
was not trained how to make a visual inspection of whether the lines
properly delivered the drugs.
- During Williams' execution, team members inside and outside the death
chamber didn't determine or couldn't tell that the line was not set
properly.
After Morales' execution was postponed, California in March revised its
execution protocol. The state released a redacted copy of the protocol and
said at the time that because of security reasons the unredacted document
would not be released to the public.
Under the old protocol, the execution team 1st administered 5 grams of
sodium thiopental. Under the new protocol, the execution team will
initially administer 1.5 grams of sodium thiopental. Then, the state will
administer 5 more grams of thiopental through an intravenous drip set at a
rate that will take 20 to 30 minutes to run out - past the point the
prisoner is expected to be dead. In the meantime, the 2 lethal drugs will
be administered.
According to the statement of undisputed facts, "no state other than
California" uses an initial dose of sodium thiopental that is less than 2
grams.
(source: Los Angeles Times)