April 21
KENTUCKY:
Expert testifies Harper may not have been out during execution
Eddie Lee Harper did not have enough pain killer in his blood to properly
anesthetize him, a researcher testified Thursday at the end of the legal
attack on Kentucky's lethal injection procedures.
Pharmacist Dr. William Watson said the autopsy of Harper after his May
1999 execution showed a level of sodium thiopental that was too low to
provide an adequate level of unconsciousness. "He could have experienced
pain," Watson said.
The testimony conflicted somewhat with earlier comments from medical
experts about the 1st of the 3 drugs used in capital punishment. The first
drug is designed to put the inmate to sleep. The following drugs paralyze,
then kill.<> 2 death row inmates, Thomas Clyde Bowling and Ralph Baze,
filed suit to claim the state's chosen drugs and procedures cause
unconstitutional pain and cruelty. Franklin County Circuit Judge Roger
Crittenden halted Bowling's planned execution in November 2004 just days
before it was scheduled.
Experts brought in by Bowling's Department of Public Advocacy attorneys
have raised questions about the drug combination and other procedures,
such as how intravenous lines are to be inserted.
Watson said the first drug was probably insufficient to provide any
unconsciousness or pain relief except for about 5 minutes.
Records from Harper's execution show the 1st drug was administered 12
minutes before death was declared. But an anesthesiologist testified
Wednesday that it appeared Harper actually died about 5 minutes into the
procedure.
Crittenden denied a request for a dismissal of the case from attorneys for
the Corrections Department and attorney general's office.
"They haven't shown any evidence that Kentucky doesn't take appropriate
safeguards during an execution," Corrections attorney Jeff Middendorf
said.
Middendorf said the entire litigation was designed to sway public opinion
on lethal injection and the death penalty and said it was an affront to
the victims of the crimes committed by Bowling and Baze.
Public defender Ted Shouse countered that the testimony during the four
days demonstrated that Harper was "almost certainly conscious" during his
execution and the modest changes in procedures have done nothing to reduce
that threat for future executions.
Corrections will present its own expert witness on May 2, when the hearing
is scheduled to resume.
After the proceedings, Crittenden will decide whether to lift the stay of
execution he granted for Bowling. His ruling will almost certainly be
appealed however it turns out.
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Killer who had relationship with judge not entitled to relief
A convicted murderer is not entitled to attack her conviction because of a
long relationship with a circuit court judge who did not sit on her case,
the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
Brenda Humphrey was convicted along with Gregory Wilson for kidnapping and
murdering Deborah Pooley in Kenton County in May 1987. Humphrey was
sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for at least
25 years. Wilson is under a death sentence.
Humphrey's conviction and sentence have been repeatedly upheld on appeal.
But she previously did not reveal her relationship with James Gilliece, a
Kenton County Circuit Court judge who died in 1993.
Though Gilliece was not the judge in her case, the Supreme Court said
Humphrey claimed that he advised her on her case.
"We must acknowledge that Gilliece did have an improper personal and
sexual relationship with Humphrey that began in 1985 and continued in some
form until his death in 1993," said the unsigned, unanimous opinion of the
high court.
The opinion said Humphrey had "sexual encounters" with Gilliece in his
chambers before and after she was charged with the Pooley murder. Even
after her conviction, the opinion said Gilliece corresponded with
Humphrey, sent her money and more than 280 letters.
The court said Humphrey could have raised the issues in earlier appeals,
but chose not to do so after consultation with her attorney. As a result,
the court said Humphrey is barred from raising the potential conflict now.
In a separate case, Justice James Keller said another condemned murderer
was properly denied money to hire an expert witness to examine whether he
was under the influence of a "bad batch" of LSD.
Vincent Stopher was sentenced to death for killing Jefferson County
Sheriff's Deputy Gregory Hans in March 1997.
Keller, who wrote the opinion for an unanimous court, said people who are
already convicted and on appeal are not entitled to get money to hire
expert witnesses.
(source for both: Associated Press)
