WASHINGTON: The two-hour-long execution of a US inmate last month required 15 doses of a relatively untested drug cocktail, according to documents, prompting renewed calls for an independent investigation.
Arizona’s July 23 execution by lethal injection of double murderer Joseph Wood was drawn out for an agonising 117 minutes, during which the condemned man gasped and snorted, rather than the the usual 10. His attorney late Friday released 331 pages of documents he had received from the Arizona Department of Corrections, which examined Wood after the procedure, and said the use of that quantity of medication was a violation of official procedures.
“The Arizona execution protocol explicitly states that a prisoner will be executed using 50 milligrams of hydromorphone and 50 milligrams of midazolam,” lawyer Dale Baich said. “The execution logs released today by the Arizona Department of Corrections shows that the experimental drug protocol did not work as promised. Instead of the one dose as required under the protocol, ADC injected 15 separate doses of the drug combination, resulting in the most prolonged execution in recent memory,” he added. “This is why an independent investigation by a non-governmental authority is necessary.”
AFP
