Author Topic: New death penalty drugs lead to "air hunger" execution  (Read 8126 times)

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Offline dpareja

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New death penalty drugs lead to "air hunger" execution
« on: January 17, 2014, 11:45:10 am »
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/ohio-execution-dennis-mcguire-s-daughter-calls-prolonged-death-torture-1.2500075

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An Ohio inmate put to death for murder was tortured by his unusually slow execution, the man's daughter said Friday as she announced plans to file a lawsuit over her father's death.

...

"It was the most awful moment in my life to witness my dad's execution," she said in a statement ahead of the news conference. "I can't think of any other way to describe it than torture."

...

McGuire's lawyers had attempted last week to block his execution, arguing that the untried method could lead to a medical phenomenon known as "air hunger" and could cause him to suffer "agony and terror" while struggling to catch his breath.

...

McGuire, 53, made loud snorting noises during one of the longest executions since Ohio resumed capital punishment in 1999. Nearly 25 minutes passed between the time the lethal drugs began flowing and McGuire was pronounced dead at 10:53 a.m.

Executions under the old method were typically much shorter and did not cause the kind of sounds McGuire made.

Okay, well, what was he convicted of, and why couldn't they use the old method?

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Prison officials gave intravenous doses of two drugs, the sedative midazolam and the painkiller hydromorphone, to put McGuire to death for the 1989 rape and fatal stabbing of a pregnant newlywed, Joy Stewart.

Okay, that's really bad.

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The method was adopted after supplies of a previously used drug dried up because the manufacturer declared it off limits for capital punishment.

Ah. I approve of this manufacturer's stance.

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What was particularly unusual Thursday was the five minutes or so that McGuire lay motionless on the gurney after the drugs began flowing, followed by a sudden snort and then more than 10 minutes of irregular breathing and gasping. Normally, movement comes at the beginning and is followed by inactivity.

...

In pressing for the execution to go ahead, state Assistant Attorney General Thomas Madden had argued that while the U.S. Constitution bans cruel and unusual punishment, "you're not entitled to a pain-free execution."

U.S. District Judge Gregory Frost sided with the state. But at the request of McGuire's lawyers, he ordered officials to photograph and preserve the drug vials, packaging and syringes.

So not only was it more painful, it even proceeded differently. At least the judge ordered the materials preserved.

And sure, you can't expect an execution to be pain-free, but leaving the man to sit there almost unable to breathe for ten minutes?

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"I'm going to heaven. I'll see [Stewart's family] there when you come," he said.

If there is a hell, I hope you're rotting in it.

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"We have forgiven him, but that does not negate the need for him to pay for his actions," Stewart's family said in a statement after the execution.

Ah, vengeance.
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Offline Dan

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Re: New death penalty drugs lead to "air hunger" execution
« Reply #1 on: January 17, 2014, 02:21:34 pm »
How was it legal to execute a man for a crime committed a full decade before capital punishment was legalised?

Offline mellenORL

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Re: New death penalty drugs lead to "air hunger" execution
« Reply #2 on: January 17, 2014, 02:28:53 pm »
I read an MSNBC article about this yesterday. What would be important to know was whether he was conscious during any part of the execution after the sedative was given. If so, then this combination of drugs, and/or the dosages used are not acceptable. I did not see mention within the witness quotes, including those by a journalist there, that McGuire seemed aware or awake when he struggled for air. Nevertheless, the fact that involuntary gasps and gurgles happened indicates this is just not a workable alternative for lethal injection. The Department of Corrections technicians who administer any and all lethal injection doses during executions are not medical personnel; it's a violation of the Hippocratic oath to intentionally give fatal overdoses. These death techs are not very good at what they do, and it seems there are quite a few cases where they have missed the vein and injected intramuscularly.

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Prison officials gave intravenous doses of two drugs, the sedative midazolam and the painkiller hydromorphone, to put McGuire to death for the 1989 rape and fatal stabbing of a pregnant newlywed, Joy Stewart.

It does seem somewhat unlikely that McGuire was aware, or in any significant pain, and that the gasping and groaning were reflex actions controlled by his brain stem, which is the primal control area for lung function. Hopefully, then, this was a case where McGuire's primitive brain stem was stressing and struggling to make the lungs work, but McGuire the person was offline/unconscious.

How was it legal to execute a man for a crime committed a full decade before capital punishment was legalised?

It's been in effect almost continuously, but for a brief spate when the law was contested;

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In 1974, the Ohio General Assembly revised Ohio’s Death Penalty law, but the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the new law in 1978. As a result, 120 condemned prisoners, including four women, had their sentences commuted to life in prison.

 After drafting a new law to reflect the strict criteria for the imposition of the death sentence, Ohio lawmakers enacted the current capital punishment statute, which took effect October 19, 1981
http://www.drc.state.oh.us/Public/capital.htm

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Offline Witchyjoshy

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Re: New death penalty drugs lead to "air hunger" execution
« Reply #3 on: January 17, 2014, 02:31:17 pm »
I've made my stance on the death penalty pretty clear, so I'm not going to launch into a preachy rant.

This is above and beyond, though.  Congratulates, you just asphyxiated a man to death because of a botched execution method.

I mean, fuck.  Execution is generally supposed to be instant death.  Even the noose or the fucking guillotine would be less cruel than THIS.  You just literally tortured a man to death.  I don't care who it is, but torturing a man to death definitely falls under "Cruel and Unusual Punishment."

The fact that the Assistant Attorney General's conscience isn't being bothered concerns the hell out of me as well.  I can forgive the family because he raped and murdered one of their loved ones, and people are generally not expected to be saints in matters regarding those who severely wrong them (though I do hate the fact that we have state-sanctioned vengeance still happening in several states) but the Assistant Attorney General?  That really bothers me.

Here's hoping that he actually was unconscious the entire time like mellenORL said.
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Offline SpaceProg

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Re: New death penalty drugs lead to "air hunger" execution
« Reply #4 on: January 17, 2014, 02:39:15 pm »
I'd stick with the old sedative then potassium overdose.  Seems to work better...

Offline dpareja

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Re: New death penalty drugs lead to "air hunger" execution
« Reply #5 on: January 17, 2014, 02:42:16 pm »
How was it legal to execute a man for a crime committed a full decade before capital punishment was legalised?

As mellenORL pointed out, it was in effect for a long time except for a period when it was contested. The current law has been on the books since 1981, but due to some clemencies by Gov. Richard Celeste in 1991, nobody was actually executed until 1999 (and that guy waived his right to further appeals, and got beaten up by his fellow inmates for it).
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Offline mellenORL

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Re: New death penalty drugs lead to "air hunger" execution
« Reply #6 on: January 17, 2014, 02:44:08 pm »
They really should just hook up the inmate to an EEG machine; they are cheap and reliable and easy to use, and they do show whether the inmate is conscious or not. The hardest thing to deal with in this case, was his family being traumatized even more than just watching him die, but watching and hearing those gasps and groans. Very traumatizing to them, and they are still the main victims here, whether McGuire had any awareness or not - they have to suffer those awful memories for life.

I'd stick with the old sedative then potassium overdose.  Seems to work better...

They'd have to buy it off the books from a veterinary pharmacy to do that, using a sham buyer. The pharma companies who make these drugs want nothing to do with human executions.
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Offline SpaceProg

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Re: New death penalty drugs lead to "air hunger" execution
« Reply #7 on: January 17, 2014, 02:49:03 pm »
So much for 'humane' execution then... 

Oh well, I guess that'll just be more of an incentive not to do anything to warrant getting the death penalty. >_>

Offline Witchyjoshy

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Re: New death penalty drugs lead to "air hunger" execution
« Reply #8 on: January 17, 2014, 02:56:43 pm »
So much for 'humane' execution then... 

Oh well, I guess that'll just be more of an incentive not to do anything to warrant getting the death penalty. >_>

That's the logic behind the death penalty in the first place... too bad it doesn't work.
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Offline mellenORL

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Re: New death penalty drugs lead to "air hunger" execution
« Reply #9 on: January 17, 2014, 03:03:22 pm »
There are criminals I hate so much I want them to die, but really, maybe just banishing them to small uninhabited islands with a sturdy cabin, a good first aid kit, a HAM radio, a well, some seeds, and a hoe would better serve the world. No more state income wasted housing them, no more worries about them getting out of jail back into society, no guilt for killing them.
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Offline ironbite

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Re: New death penalty drugs lead to "air hunger" execution
« Reply #10 on: January 17, 2014, 03:03:44 pm »
While I do side with capital punishment as a way to remove the worst scum of the universe I also support a pain-free and very quick death.

Ironbite-I mean if you're gonna murder someone on the State's dime, do it right.

Offline Ultimate Paragon

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Re: New death penalty drugs lead to "air hunger" execution
« Reply #11 on: January 17, 2014, 03:20:45 pm »
I'm on the fence about the death penalty, but I think we should bring back the guillotine if we must execute people.  It's a humane death, and you can reuse the organs.

Offline SpaceProg

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Re: New death penalty drugs lead to "air hunger" execution
« Reply #12 on: January 17, 2014, 03:20:53 pm »
To me, life imprisonment with no possibility of parole would be worse than death.  To think, you'll know what you'll be doing, and where you'll be decades from now... if you're not dead by another prisoner's hand.

Offline Meshakhad

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Re: New death penalty drugs lead to "air hunger" execution
« Reply #13 on: January 17, 2014, 10:13:17 pm »
Can't we just give them a morphine overdose? Or shoot them in the head?
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Re: New death penalty drugs lead to "air hunger" execution
« Reply #14 on: January 17, 2014, 10:21:59 pm »
Can't we just give them a morphine overdose? Or shoot them in the head?

Well, the eighth amendment, as well as common human decency, generally disfavor such approaches.