May 20
MISSOURI----stay of impending execution
Federal court stays Missouri execution hours before controversial injection;
Appeals court agrees with medical evidence presented by Russell Bucklew's
lawyers, who argue the risks of a botched procedure are too high
The 8th US circuit court of appeals has granted a stay of execution for
Missouri inmate Russell Bucklew, hours before he was to be put to death.
Bucklew, 46, was scheduled to die with a lethal injection at 12.01am CT on
Wednesday at a state prison in Bonne Terre, despite questions over the secrecy
with which the state has shrouded its procedures and particularly the source of
the drugs it intends to use to kill him.
The stay is valid for 60 days.
On Tuesday, Bucklew's lawyers lodged their petition with the 8th circuit court
of appeals calling for a stay of execution. They argued that the inmate's rare
congenital condition, known as cavernous hemangioma, had caused malformations
of the veins in his face, head and throat that could easily rupture during the
execution.
The petition said that his medical problem, combined with the one-size-fits-all
procedure enshrined in Missouri's death penalty protocol, could cause him to
'cough and choke on his own blood. His vascular abnormalities could also impair
the circulation of the lethal drug - leading to a prolonged and excruciating
execution."
The appeals court agreed. "Bucklew's unrebutted medical evidence demonstrates
the requisite sufficient likelihood of unnecessary pain and suffering beyond
the constitutionally permissible amount inherent in all executions.
(source: The Guardian)
*********************
Appeals Court Halts Execution of Missouri Inmate Russell Bucklew
A federal appeals court has halted the execution of Missouri death row inmate
Russell Bucklew hours before his scheduled lethal injection.
Bucklew - who murdered a man in front of his kids, kidnapped and raped his
ex-girlfriend, and shot at a cop - argued a rare birth defect would make a
lethal injection excruciating, in violation of the Constitution.
In a 2-1 ruling on Tuesday evening, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said
the state had failed to show that Bucklew was wrong and put the execution on
hold.
"The irreparable harm to Bucklew is great in comparison to the harm to the
state from staying the execution," the justices wrote.
On Monday, a lower court rejected Bucklew's claim that the execution would be
unconstitutionally cruel because a medical condition - large masses in his head
that cause hemorrhages - could prevent the drug from circulating properly and
might prolong his death.
The appeals court reversed that decision less than 8 hours before Missouri was
set to inject Bucklew with a deadly dose of pentobarbital.
If the execution had gone ahead, he would have become the first inmate executed
since the bungled lethal injection of Clayton Lockett in Oklahoma - a debacle
that prompted the White House to order a review of state procedures.
Lockett appeared to regain consciousness and struggle in pain while strapped to
the gurney midway through the injection, which involved a new 3-drug protocol.
Prison officials said at the time that his vein collapsed, but an investigation
into what went wrong has not been completed.
Lockett's death brought more attention to the controversy over state policies
that keep their lethal-injection suppliers - often less-regulated compounding
pharmacies - anonymous.
Bucklew's challenge cited Missouri's drug secrecy but was more focused on his
vascular disorder, which his lawyers argued would "almost inevitably lead to a
bloody, prolonged and excruciating execution."
"I'm worried it could be painful," Bucklew told the Associated Press from
prison last week.
"I'm worried about being brain-dead. I understand the family (of the victim)
wants closure, but we're victimizing my family here, too."
The children of Bucklew's victim, Michael Sanders, had planned to be in the
death chamber if the execution went forward.
Sanders was killed because he opened his home to Bucklew's ex-girlfriend after
she was repeatedly threatened by Bucklew. Bucklew later escaped from jail and
attacked the former girlfriend's mother with a hammer.
"It's up to God what God does with him," Sanders' mother, Dorothy, told the
Southeast Missourian newspaper.
"I don't forgive the guy, because I don't think I could ever do that, even
though I'm supposed to. I'll just be glad when it's over with and leave the
rest of it up to God and let him take care of it."
She said that while her grandsons will be at the prison in Bonne Terre, she
won't witness the execution.
"I have no interest in that," she said. " ... I never asked for the death
penalty anyway. All I wanted was for him just to be locked up."
(source: NBC news)
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