Post by MXB on Jun 12, 2006 4:43:10 GMT -5
Ohio's Botched Execution
Alan Johnson THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
The needle was in his arm, he was strapped down and he had said his last, tearful words. Joseph Clark was ready to die. But Ohio’s lethal-injection process, which had worked, if not flawlessly, at least without major problems on 20 previous occasions, went awry yesterday at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility near Lucasville.
As the chemical began flowing, Clark, a longtime IV drug user before he went to prison, raised his head and upper body off the table several times.
"It don’t work. It don’t work," he said five times, according to media witnesses.
Medical technicians returned and the curtain was closed at 10:37 a.m., blocking the view of authorized witnesses, who later heard what they described as "moaning, crying out and guttural noises."
It took almost an hour and a half, but by 11:26 a.m., the 57-year-old killer from Toledo was dead as planned. It took two tries, and much of the work was conducted behind the curtain, preventing the official witnesses from viewing the process of inserting needles into Clark’s veins after one vein collapsed, or "blew out."
The problems frayed the nerves of prison personnel and are certain to add fuel to a national controversy about lethal injection.
Terry Collins, who took over Monday as director of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, said he ordered the curtain closed to shield the victims’ family members and keep his staff from being watched as they struggled to get the IV lines going.
"I absolutely believe I made the right call closing the curtain, and I would do it again," Collins said later. However, he said the entire process will be reviewed.
Clark was convicted and sentenced to death for killing David A. Manning on Jan. 13, 1984, during a robbery at a Toledo service station where Manning worked. Clark confessed to the crime after being arrested a See EXECUTION Page A4 few days later in connection with another robbery.
He also was convicted of murder, without a death-penalty specification, in the shooting death of Donald Harris, a convenience-store clerk.
Clark’s execution, which started at 10 a.m., was troubled almost from the beginning. Prison medical technicians were able to attach the needle to a vein only in his left arm, not both arms as is the standard procedure.
Despite the lengthy execution process, prison officials said Clark did not appear to be in any pain. Eventually, he went to sleep as the curtain was opened at 11:17 a.m. He could be heard snoring as the second, successful attempt to end his life began.
"One hour, 26 minutes is unacceptable, inhumane, and another indication of a flawed, unnecessary death system that is irreparably broken," said Sister Alice Gerdeman, chairwoman of Ohioans to Stop Executions.
She renewed the call to Gov. Bob Taft to declare an "an immediate moratorium on executions and take an honest look at fair alternatives to the death penalty."
Dr. Jonathan I. Groner, trauma medical director at Children’s Hospital and a longtime opponent of physician involvement in executions, said Clark’s execution was "clearly botched."
"There was 90 minutes of torture and discomfort for this guy."
Before the problems began, Clark apologized to the families of both his victims and quoted Martin Luther King Jr. in a lengthy, rambling statement.
He added an anti-drug admonition, urging "young brothers and sisters all over the world. Do not let drugs ruin your life, ruin your body or destroy your mind. Today my life is being taken because of drugs."
The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio quickly issued a statement by Carrie Davis, staff counsel. The ACLU has a suit pending in federal court in Columbus demanding that the public be allowed to watch the phase of executions when the IV tubes are inserted.
"By not allowing public viewing of the executions, the state is diminishing the power of people to understand the execution process and the possible problems that may arise," Davis said.
Legal concerns over the injection process had already prompted U.S. District Judge Gregory L. Frost on Monday to delay the next scheduled execution, that of Jeffrey Hill of Hamilton County on June 15. Frost cited "the growing body of evidence calling Ohio’s lethal-injection protocol increasingly into question."
Opponents argue that a trio of drugs used in 36 states can leave a prisoner paralyzed but in great pain as they are executed. They say that violates the U.S. Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
All states with capital punishment use lethal injection except Nebraska, which uses an electric chair. California’s executions are on hold because of legal questions about the lethal-injection process.
The problems with Clark’s execution were not a concern for family members of his two victims, who came to see justice done after a long wait.
"I didn’t shed a tear," said Mary Ellen Manning Gordon, Manning’s widow. "Joseph Clark lived 22 years too long."
"He really died quite peacefully," said Brenda Kuhl, Donald Harris’ sister. "It was an easy way to go."
Alan Johnson THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
The needle was in his arm, he was strapped down and he had said his last, tearful words. Joseph Clark was ready to die. But Ohio’s lethal-injection process, which had worked, if not flawlessly, at least without major problems on 20 previous occasions, went awry yesterday at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility near Lucasville.
As the chemical began flowing, Clark, a longtime IV drug user before he went to prison, raised his head and upper body off the table several times.
"It don’t work. It don’t work," he said five times, according to media witnesses.
Medical technicians returned and the curtain was closed at 10:37 a.m., blocking the view of authorized witnesses, who later heard what they described as "moaning, crying out and guttural noises."
It took almost an hour and a half, but by 11:26 a.m., the 57-year-old killer from Toledo was dead as planned. It took two tries, and much of the work was conducted behind the curtain, preventing the official witnesses from viewing the process of inserting needles into Clark’s veins after one vein collapsed, or "blew out."
The problems frayed the nerves of prison personnel and are certain to add fuel to a national controversy about lethal injection.
Terry Collins, who took over Monday as director of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, said he ordered the curtain closed to shield the victims’ family members and keep his staff from being watched as they struggled to get the IV lines going.
"I absolutely believe I made the right call closing the curtain, and I would do it again," Collins said later. However, he said the entire process will be reviewed.
Clark was convicted and sentenced to death for killing David A. Manning on Jan. 13, 1984, during a robbery at a Toledo service station where Manning worked. Clark confessed to the crime after being arrested a See EXECUTION Page A4 few days later in connection with another robbery.
He also was convicted of murder, without a death-penalty specification, in the shooting death of Donald Harris, a convenience-store clerk.
Clark’s execution, which started at 10 a.m., was troubled almost from the beginning. Prison medical technicians were able to attach the needle to a vein only in his left arm, not both arms as is the standard procedure.
Despite the lengthy execution process, prison officials said Clark did not appear to be in any pain. Eventually, he went to sleep as the curtain was opened at 11:17 a.m. He could be heard snoring as the second, successful attempt to end his life began.
"One hour, 26 minutes is unacceptable, inhumane, and another indication of a flawed, unnecessary death system that is irreparably broken," said Sister Alice Gerdeman, chairwoman of Ohioans to Stop Executions.
She renewed the call to Gov. Bob Taft to declare an "an immediate moratorium on executions and take an honest look at fair alternatives to the death penalty."
Dr. Jonathan I. Groner, trauma medical director at Children’s Hospital and a longtime opponent of physician involvement in executions, said Clark’s execution was "clearly botched."
"There was 90 minutes of torture and discomfort for this guy."
Before the problems began, Clark apologized to the families of both his victims and quoted Martin Luther King Jr. in a lengthy, rambling statement.
He added an anti-drug admonition, urging "young brothers and sisters all over the world. Do not let drugs ruin your life, ruin your body or destroy your mind. Today my life is being taken because of drugs."
The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio quickly issued a statement by Carrie Davis, staff counsel. The ACLU has a suit pending in federal court in Columbus demanding that the public be allowed to watch the phase of executions when the IV tubes are inserted.
"By not allowing public viewing of the executions, the state is diminishing the power of people to understand the execution process and the possible problems that may arise," Davis said.
Legal concerns over the injection process had already prompted U.S. District Judge Gregory L. Frost on Monday to delay the next scheduled execution, that of Jeffrey Hill of Hamilton County on June 15. Frost cited "the growing body of evidence calling Ohio’s lethal-injection protocol increasingly into question."
Opponents argue that a trio of drugs used in 36 states can leave a prisoner paralyzed but in great pain as they are executed. They say that violates the U.S. Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
All states with capital punishment use lethal injection except Nebraska, which uses an electric chair. California’s executions are on hold because of legal questions about the lethal-injection process.
The problems with Clark’s execution were not a concern for family members of his two victims, who came to see justice done after a long wait.
"I didn’t shed a tear," said Mary Ellen Manning Gordon, Manning’s widow. "Joseph Clark lived 22 years too long."
"He really died quite peacefully," said Brenda Kuhl, Donald Harris’ sister. "It was an easy way to go."
