Sept. 28 CALIFORNIA: Sedation May Fail in California Executions, Doctor Testifies----Anesthesiologist testifies that state has flawed lethal injection procedures, poorly trained employees. Some condemned inmates executed by lethal injection may have been conscious when they received a drug that causes suffocation and "excruciating" sensations comparable to drowning or strangulation, an anesthesiologist who has reviewed state execution logs testified Wednesday. Dr. Mark Heath, a professor of anesthesiology at Columbia University Medical School, said the logs showed that inmates were still breathing several minutes after prison personnel administered pancuronium bromide, a paralytic and the 2nd of 3 drugs used in lethal injections in California and three dozen other states. The inmates are supposed to be heavily sedated by the 1st drug against the pain of the 3rd, a heart-stopping chemical whose effects are masked by the paralytic. "If someone is breathing like that, they may not be in a deep plane of anesthesia. They may not even be unconscious," Heath said on the 2nd day of a hearing on death row inmate Michael Morales' challenge to California's lethal injection procedures. Morales' attorneys contend that the executions violate the U.S. Constitution's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. As Heath, who has testified as an expert challenging lethal injection procedures in several states, spoke, attorney Ginger Anders displayed a copy of a prison log of the March 2001 execution in California of murderer Robert Lee Massie. The log showed that Massie continued to breathe for 4 minutes after the paralytic, pancuronium bromide, was administered. Heath emphasized that 2 doctors who observed the execution "said they saw breathing; they were right there." Still, under cross-examination by senior Assistant Atty. Gen. Dane Gillette, Heath acknowledged that he did not have sufficient information to say whether any particular inmate was conscious when the paralytic was applied or during the painful cardiac shutdown. "We don't know whether they were or weren't," Heath said. In more than a full day of testimony, Heath presented a withering portrayal of the California lethal injection system at work, based on his review of prison records, depositions of execution team members and other material obtained by Morales' attorneys. Among other things, he said members of the execution team were ignorant of the properties of the drugs they administered, and in some instances failed to give the required dose of the sedative sodium thiopental. Responding to a question about how much she knew about the anesthetic, a registered nurse with primary responsibility for mixing the drugs said, "I don't study. I just do the job. I don't want to know about it," according to a deposition read into the court record by Anders. Heath said he was disturbed by the response: "This is problematic. She is being negligent.. You can't understand and appreciate the dangers if you don't know how the drug works." The same nurse said she was not familiar with the lethal drug protocol, which Heath said he found "almost hard to believe." He also said it was "appalling" that another member of the team, involved with administering the lethal dose, did not know the names of the 2nd and 3rd drugs, according to deposition testimony read in court Wednesday. Heath testified that he also was troubled by reports of a discussion between the governor's representatives and the attorney general's office about changing lethal injection procedures. The meeting was called after U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel announced that he would hold a detailed hearing on Morales' constitutional challenge. According to notes of the meeting taken by Corrections attorney Bruce Slevin, Dr. Robert Singler, who works for the department, suggested that the state use a different, longer-lasting and more effective anesthetic. But lawyers spurned Singler's idea, saying they thought the state should not change course because the 3-drug protocol had been upheld by courts. Instead, they suggested that the procedure be "tweaked," Heath testified. "Fewer changes will be better," said Andrea L. Hoch, the governor's lawyer, according to Slevin's notes, which were displayed on a courtroom screen. Heath also expressed dismay that the room in which prison personnel monitored the execution was dimly lighted to preserve the confidentiality of members of the execution team. Heath observed the room, under execution conditions, on a tour arranged by Fogel earlier this year. "All I can say is that it was much darker than I ever would allow myself to be placed" when working in a hospital setting, Heath said. The 46-year-old anesthesiologist cited testimony of a physician who was present at an execution as an observer. The doctor said "he had to use a flashlight to see what he was writing," Heath stated. Heath said there is no way to guarantee that an inmate is adequately anesthetized unless an experienced doctor is at his side monitoring consciousness during the execution. The California protocol does not call for a doctor to participate, and the execution team is in a room adjacent to the execution chamber, pumping in the drugs through intravenous lines. Heath said he thought it possible to recruit a suitable monitor, even though the American Medical Assn. and the American Society of Anesthesiologists have urged their members not to participate in executions. Medical professionals' oaths - "First, do no harm " - condemn participating in killings. On cross-examination, Heath said he would not want to participate in an execution. When Gillette asked if Heath would help the state devise a "humane" lethal injection protocol, the doctor, who opposes the death penalty, said it would violate his personal ethics. Gillette attempted to demonstrate in various ways that no change in the state's procedures would satisfy Heath. For example, he noted that Heath's declarations in the Morales case and an earlier one brought by death row inmate Kevin Cooper had stated that a continuous infusion of sodium thiopental would provide an additional measure of safety. Now, Gillette suggested, Heath was criticizing the state's plan to adopt the continuous infusion protocol. Heath countered that he "could not have imagined that when California made that change in the protocol that it also would dramatically lower" the initial dose of the sedative. Currently in California, "no one on the [execution] team" at San Quentin has the training or experience to monitor or assess whether the anesthetic is really working, Heath said. "This is not the fault of these people. They are doing the best they can in a very dysfunctional system," he testified. Morales is on death row for the 1981 murder of Terri Winchell, a Lodi high school student. **************** Some Lethal Injections May Have Been 'Excruciating' Inmates executed by lethal injection in California may have been conscious when they were administered a drug that induces suffocation and an "excruciating'' experience comparable to drowning or strangulation, an anesthesiologist who has reviewed state execution logs testified today. Mark Heath, a professor of anesthesiology at Columbia University Medical School, said the logs showed that some of those executed were still breathing several minutes after prison personnel administered pancuronium bromide, a paralytic agent and the 2nd of 3 drugs used in lethal injections in California and 3 dozen other states. "If someone is breathing like that, they may not be in a deep plane of anesthesia. They may not even be unconscious,'' Heath said on the 2nd day of a hearing before U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel on a challenge to California's lethal injection procedures by death row inmate Michael Morales. His attorneys contend that the state procedure violates the U.S. Constitution's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. As Heath was testifying, attorney Ginger Anders displayed a copy of a prison log of the execution of Robert Massey, which showed that Massey continued to breathe for 4 minutes after the pancuronium was administered. Heath also presented a withering portrayal of California's procedures for executing condemned prisoners, based on his review of prison records, depositions of execution team members and other material obtained by attorneys for Morales. Among other things, Heath said members of the execution team were ignorant about the properties of the drugs they were using and failed to administer the required dose of the anesthetic sodium thiopental, which is meant to deaden the inmate to the pain of the paralytic. In response to a question about what she knew about the anesthetic, a registered nurse on the execution team said, "I don't study. I just do the job. I don't want to know about it,'' according to a deposition read by Anders. Heath said he was very disturbed by the response: "You can't understand and appreciate the dangers if you don't know how the drug works.'' Heath also said he was troubled by a discussion between corrections officials and the governor's representatives about changing the lethal injection protocol to address concerns Fogel voiced when Morales' execution was postponed last spring. According to notes taken by attorney Bruce Slevin, a doctor who works for the Corrections Department suggested that the state use a different, longer-lasting and more effective anesthetic. But lawyers in the meeting spurned Dr. Robert Singler's idea, saying they believed the state should not change course because the 3 drug protocol had been upheld by courts. Instead, they suggested that the procedure be "tweaked,'' according to Slevin's notes. Heath said this was "not a medically valid reason.'' Heath added: "The priority should be to make sure it is humane. If we make sure it is humane, a court is not going to stop'' the state from conducting lethal injection executions, Heath concluded. On Tuesday, an expert on pharmacology said the drug used to anesthetize inmates wears off "extremely fast" and potentially exposes prisoners to painful deaths. The four-day trial here is one of several court proceedings around the nation in which lethal injection is under challenge as a violation of the U.S. Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Executions have been put on hold in California pending the outcome of the litigation, brought by Morales, who was sentenced to death for the 1981 murder of Terri Winchell, 17, in Lodi. Judge Fogel has stressed that condemned inmates are not entitled under the Constitution to a painless death. (source for both: Los Angeles Times) ***************** Execution method assailed by doctor An anesthesiologist suggested Wednesday that California's lethal injection procedures are such a mess that there is no way to know if death row inmates have suffered, the theme of his daylong testimony in the legal challenge to the state's execution method. "It'll forever be an unknown in California whether they've reliably performed a humane execution,'' said Dr. Mark Heath, a New York anesthesiologist and frequent expert witness for death row inmates around the country. Heath blasted virtually every aspect of California's lethal injection procedure, from poor training of execution-team members to evidence of foul-ups in past executions. In response to questions from lawyers and a federal judge, Heath said some of the problems are "almost hard to believe.'' Heath's testimony came in the second day of an unprecedented hearing unfolding this week in federal court in San Jose, where U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel is considering death row inmate Michael Morales' challenge to California's use of lethal injection. Morales' lawsuit maintains that the state's lethal injection method violates the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Morales, 46, is on death row for the 1981 rape and murder of a 17-year-old Lodi girl. Fogel postponed the execution in February to consider the lethal injection challenge, setting up the most thorough examination of an issue that is being raised in death-penalty states around the country. Fogel pressed Heath on Wednesday on whether there are alternatives that California and other states have yet to try that may be more humane, such as using just a sedative to put a prisoner to death. Senior Assistant Attorney General Dane Gillette grilled Heath under cross-examination, trying to portray him as a hired gun for death row inmates intent on blocking executions in California and other states. Gillette pointed out to Heath that this case is the 5th time this year he has testified in a lethal injection challenge. "You've found no state's lethal injection procedure to be satisfactory,'' Gillette said. Based on logs kept from executions, Heath suggested there is evidence that in some instances, execution-team members have failed to properly sedate an inmate before administering the final and fatal doses of drugs. California uses three drugs to execute an inmate: the 1st, sodium thiopental, to render the inmate unconscious; the 2nd, pancurium bromide, to paralyze the muscles and stop breathing; and the 3rd, potassium chloride, to stop the heart. Critics of lethal injection say that if an inmate is not fully unconscious from the 1st drug, the 2nd drug can mask the excruciating pain of the 3rd and fatal drug, potassium chloride. Morales' attorneys argue that the state uses the 2nd drug only to make an execution more palatable for onlookers because it keeps an inmate's body from jerking around. 2 experts testified earlier this week that they would not use pancurium bromide to euthanize animals. Heath pointed to a series of recent depositions taken of former San Quentin execution-team members who acknowledged that they couldn't even identify all three drugs used in executions, and in some instances hadn't read the state's guidelines, known as Procedure 770, for executing inmates. In addition, Heath said execution-team members were not properly trained to administer the sedatives, heightening the risk that prisoners may not have been fully unconscious during executions. The state's system is so sloppy, he testified, that officials can't even account for all the sedatives checked out from San Quentin's pharmacy for executions. For Morales' case, the testimony is geared to show that the state's procedures are patched together without study, training or safeguards during an execution. The lawsuit argues that such problems amount to a constitutional violation because the state's system places an inmate at an unnecessary risk of a painful execution. Heath stressed repeatedly that having a doctor in the execution chamber to monitor an inmate would be a key safeguard, but Gillette pointed to major problems trying to recruit any physicians willing to do that. California prison officials could not comply with Fogel's orders in February that would have allowed the Morales execution to proceed if 2 anesthesiologists were present. Missouri officials also recently were unable to find a doctor to monitor an execution. The American Medical Association says it is unethical for doctors to participate in executions. California lawyers insist the system does ensure that executions are humane, and disputes any evidence that an inmate has suffered in executions. The state is expected to produce its own expert to defend the system later in the week. (source: Mercury News) ************** Mother accused of murder eligible for death penalty----San Pablo woman charged with killing 2 of her children A San Pablo woman accused of killing 2 of her infants was arraigned Wednesday on charges of murder and a special circumstance that makes her eligible for the death penalty, deputy district attorney Dara Cashman said. Prosecutors have charged Lavida Davis, 23, with 2 counts of murder, 2 counts of assault on a child causing death and the special circumstance of multiple murder. On Sept. 17, Davis brought one of her twin 6-week-old sons to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead, San Pablo police said. They found that Davis had a 22-day-old boy who died under similar circumstances in 2004 in Oakland. Investigators said Davis told them last week she placed a pillow over her son's face when he was crying at night; she admitted killing the other boy in 2004. Davis is set to appear Oct. 6 in Superior Court in Richmond to enter a plea and to get an attorney. (source: Inside Bay Area News) FLORIDA: Death penalty urged for slasher In Sanford, prosecutors filed notice this week that they will seek the death penalty against Franklyn "Frankie" Duzant, the Lake Mary sword collector charged with slashing his wife and son to death in June. A Seminole County grand jury indicted Duzant on 2 counts of 1st-degree murder July 18. Neighbors watched in horror as Duzant, 40, chased his 11-year-old son, Nico, across the street, then killed him with a sword after the boy tripped and fell, according to prosecution records. When deputies arrived minutes later and checked inside Duzant's house, they found that his wife, Evangeline "Gigi" Duzant, 52, had been beheaded, records show. (source: Orlando Sentinel) GEORGIA: Death-row appeal from inmate denied The federal appeals court in Atlanta has denied an appeal from a death-row inmate convicted of killing a Savannah police officer in 1989. A 3-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta on Tuesday unanimously rejected Troy Anthony Davis bid to overturn his conviction based on new testimony. Since the trial, several prosecution witnesses who implicated or named Davis as the killer have renounced much of the testimony used to convict him. Davis was condemned to die in 1991 for killing 27-year-old Officer Mark Allen MacPhail, who responded to a melee outside a Savannah bus station where he was shot repeatedly at close range. (source: Atlanta Journal Constitution) TENNESSEE: Juror says lack of remorse brought down death sentence A juror in the trial of David Lynn Jordan says Jordan got the death penalty because he failed to show remorse for the murder of his wife and 2 others. The jury in Jackson convicted Jordan in a January shooting spree at a state Transportation Department garage. He has been sentenced to die by lethal injection. Jordan's spiritual adviser says the man was remorseful during private conversations. Juror Robert Patterson said yesterday that other factors also weighed against Jordan. For instance, testimony said Jordan purposely killed his estranged wife Donna Renee Jordan with her brother's gun on her father's birthday. (source: Associated Press) OHIO: LaTourette asks Governor Taft to uphold death sentence of cult leader----Jeffery Lundgren to be executed Oct. 24 for murder of family U.S. Rep. Steven LaTourette, the former Lake County prosecutor, watched sheriff's deputies pull the body of 7-year-old Karen Avery from her makeshift grave. He remembers that Karen's foot fell off her body as she was pulled from a pit in a barn, an innocent victim of her parents' faith in a false prophet. Sixteen years later, LaTourette, R-Concord Township, sat at his computer and composed a message of justice for Karen and her family, imploring Gov. Robert Taft to uphold the death sentence of cult leader and convicted murderer Jeffrey Lundgren. Lundgren is slated to be executed Oct. 24 for the murders of Dennis and Cheryl Avery and their three young daughters in April 1989. Lundgren was leading a small group of religious followers, relying on altered Mormon scriptures. The followers believed Lundgren was a prophet of Jesus Christ and their faith in him would lead them to eternal glory at the second coming of Christ, which was near. To illustrate his power and his devotion to the will of God, Lundgren accepted the Averys' savings and credit cards, fed them a "last supper" and led the family into a Kirtland barn, where he bound, shot and buried them together, according to Lake County Common Pleas Court testimony given during Lundgren's trial. The bodies of Dennis Avery, 49; his wife, Cheryl, 46; and their daughters, Trina, 15, Rebecca, 13 and Karen, 7, were found after members left the cult and alerted police. LaTourette successfully prosecuted Lundgren and others involved in the murders. Lundgren was sentenced to death on 5 counts of aggravated murder and 5 counts of kidnapping. Lundgren's wife, Alice, 55, is serving 5 life terms in prison for her part in the murders. In total, 13 cult members were arrested in the case. After Lundgren, 56, lobbied Tuesday for clemency before the Ohio Parole Board, LaTourette wrote of his firsthand knowledge of the case in a letter to Taft, urging the governor to uphold the death sentence. "I wanted the governor to have my opinion. In my six years as prosecutor, this was clearly the worst case we handled," LaTourette said. "When I heard (Lundgren's) arguments for clemency, I had to do something," he said. Lundgren's attorney, Jim Jenkins, said his client is remorseful for having killed the Avery family and that he has a severe undiagnosed mental condition that was not recognized at the time of the trial. Jenkins also said Lundgren shouldn't be killed by lethal injection because he is an obese diabetic with high blood pressure, a condition which could make lethal injection difficult, the Associated Press reports. LaTourette said Lundgren showed no remorse for having killed the Averys, either before, during or after his trial. "Now (Lundgren) says he finds the Bible full of love. But in as late as 1998, he said he saw the death of Kirtland Police Chief Dennis Yarborough as a "sign from God," LaTourette wrote to Taft. Yarborough led the investigation of the Lundgren cult in the Avery murders and suffered a fatal heart attack while jogging in 1998. LaTourette said Lundgren's mental stability was tested twice before his trial. "(Lundgren) caused the death(s) of 5 people; 3 were children, and all he could do (during his trial) was lecture us for 5 hours on his interpretation of scripture. He has shown no remorse," LaTourette said. Lundgren's last chance to live beyond Oct. 24 lies with Taft, who could decide to make Lundgren's final punishment a life sentence. Taft's press secretary Mark Rickel said the governor is writing a response to LaTourette's letter and hasn't made a decision about Lundgren's request for clemency. "The governor will respond (to LaTourette) shortly. (Taft) has not received a recommendation from the Ohio Parole Board and will not make a decision until that recommendation is made," Rickel said. Lundgren's is the 25th clemency case Taft has heard since 1999. Taft has granted clemency in only one case, that of Jerome Campbell in 2003, Rickel said. In that case, clemency was recommended by the parole board, according to a 2003 press release from Taft's office. "The governor takes these powers and this part of the job very, very seriously. He weighs the views of everyone, from the board to Ohio residents to those close to each individual case," Rickel said. LaTourette said he is confident Taft will uphold the death sentence in the Lundgren case. "(Lundgren) doesn't deserve clemency, and he doesn't deserve mercy. He didn't show those 3 little girls mercy," LaTourette said. "He has already been given more time on earth since his conviction than the oldest Avery girl, Trina, was able to enjoy (in) life," he said. But it is the image of little Karen Avery that hurts LaTourette's heart the most. Her fate, he said, was the most cruel of all. (source: Star Beacon)
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----CALIF., FLA., GA., TENN., OHIO
Rick Halperin Thu, 28 Sep 2006 12:17:11 -0500 (Central Daylight Time)
