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Last night, Virginia Death Row inmate William Morva was executed by lethal injection.  Morva was sentenced to death for the 2006 killing of a sheriff’s deputy and a hospital security guard while Morva was unsuccessfully trying to escape from a hospital.  

Morva Suffered Severe Mental Impairment

Earlier on the day of the Morva execution, Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe considered and denied a petition for clemency.  The basis of the petition was Morva’s mental state.

William Morva had been evaluated by psychiatric and psychological experts.  It was their opinion that William Morva suffered serious mental illness and that he was mentally ill at the time of the killings for which he was convicted.  That Morva was delusional at the time, and could not comprehend what he was doing at the time.

In his statement released after the denial, Governor McAuliffe gave two reasons for denying clemency:

(1) the opinions of three mental health experts during the capital trial that Morva could understand right from wrong at the time of the killings; and

(2) the files of those monitoring Morva during his nine years of confinement, where "…mental health staff have monitored him weekly and assessed him quarterly for the past nine years and have never reported any evidence of delusional disorder or severe mental illness."

ABA Letter Asking for Clemency 

Many were fighting against this execution.  Among them, the American Bar Association which sent a letter to the governor of Virginia in a last ditch effort to get clemency and stop the execution. 

Read the ABA Letter here. 

Governor’s Letter Affirms The Importance of Defense in Capital Trial

From the Governor’s letter comes the following explanation – which only serves to affirm how very important the work of capital defense lawyers like Terence Lenamon is when it comes to a capital case.  

Terry focuses upon the sentencing phase of these death penalty trials, where the jury is given arguments from both sides on whether or not to sentence the defendant to death.  

The decision of that capital jury is strong — and while it may be overturned upon appeal, the Morva case reminds us all that the jury’s verdict may also remain … and death can be the result.

From the Governor’s statement:

“At the conclusion of that review, I have determined that Mr. Morva was given a fair trial and that the jury heard substantial evidence about his mental health as they prepared to sentence him in accordance with the law of our Commonwealth. In short, the record before me does not contain sufficient evidence to warrant the extraordinary step of overturning the decision of a lawfully empaneled jury following a properly conducted trial.

“I personally oppose the death penalty; however, I took an oath to uphold the laws of this Commonwealth regardless of my personal views of those laws, as long as they are being fairly and justly applied. Thus, after extensive review and deliberation consistent with the process I have applied to previous requests for commutation, I have declined Mr. Morva’s petition. I have and will continue to pray for the families of the victims of these terrible crimes and for all of the people whose lives have been impacted.”

 

 Here’s a great resource for a quick overview of the death penalty in the United States, state by state, including clemency granted and denied and various issues with execution methods.  

Compiled by CNN, you can read it here as their Death Penalty Fast Facts.

Among the details found there: 

1.  Since 1973, there have been 157 death row exonerations and 26 of those executions have been in Florida.  That’s 17%. 

2.  There are 62 people sitting on the Federal Death Row — no, not any state.  The federal government can execute, too. 

3.  A Florida governor has suspended the death penalty,  Governor Jeb Bush did so after the horrific execution of Angel Diaz back in 2006.

4.  A drug called sodium thiopental was popular in lethal execution methods in several states until the DEA began questioning where the states were getting their supply and seized all of Georgia’s supply of thiopental.  

That led to the only US manufacturer to stop making it, and overseas manufacturers to refuse to sell it to American buyers.  Result?  States began looking for a substitutefor sodium thiopental.  Georgia chose pentobarbital to replace sodium thiopental in its 3-drug cocktail. 

5.  Pentobarbital hasn’t been so easy to find for executions either.  Ohio couldn’t find any pentobarbital to buy, so it substituted midazolam along with hydromorphone in its lethal injection procedure.  This was used on Alan Johnson, who reportedly gasped for air for as long as 13 minutes before passing away 24 minutes after the execution began.

 

As shocking as this may be, news reports are that the State of Arkansas will execute eight Death Row inmates next month, over the course of ten days. 

8 Executions Over 10 Days; Two at at Time

That’s almost one execution a day, right? Well, yes.  Except reports are that the executions are planned to occur two at a time.  That’s right: Arkansas will execute these men in pairs, two executions on the same day.

Lethal Injection Protocols In Question: What About The Drugs?

All these executions will be by lethal injection. 

Reports are that the state does not have all the proper drugs for the lethal injections.  This has not prevented the executions from being scheduled.

Will they be carried out? Will a federal court stop them?

And why now?  Arkansas has not executed anyone for TWELVE YEARS.

ACADP Tracking Efforts to Stop April Executions

For more information, including the fight to stop this mass execution next month, visit the web site of the Arkansas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (ACADP).

In Mississippi (and elsewhere), the lethal injection method of execution is so problematic these days that state governments are considering the return to past methods of killing people in capital punishment sentences.

Firing Squad

The Mississippi legislature had been considering the firing squad.  Read, "Mississippi considers firing squad as method of execution," for details.  That got nixed. 

The firing squad has its proponents.  Among them, Alabama Death Row Inmate Thomas Arthur who fought all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court for the right to die by firing squad instead of lethal injection.  He lost, but not without the support of Justice Sonia Sontomayor.  Read her dissent here.

Of course, most people do not like the idea of firing squad executions.  It’s not a popular alternative to lethal injection.  For more, read "Is The Firing Squad More Humane Than Lethal Injection?" by Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux in FiveThirtyEight.

Electric Chair and Gas Chamber

Mississippi is moving forward with proposed legislation that will allow either electrocution or the gas chamber as execution methods if lethal injection is not possible.  Mississippi has not executed anyone in five years, in large part because of its problems with lethal injection drug issues.

Last Thursday, the Mississippi Senate approved a bill that allows for either alternative and sent the proposal over to the Mississippi House for consideration. 

It’s looking likely that this may get passed and executions will resume in Mississippi.  But what will the public think?

States With Alternative Methods of Execution Already On the Books

Of course, some states already have options in the law to the lethal injection method of execution.  Mississippi’s dilemma is that lethal injection was the only legal execution method for the state. 

States like Florida and Utah?  They have options. 

For a discussion of states who already have legal alternatives to lethal injection, read our post, "Returning Death Penalty to Other Execution Methods On the Books."

 

For details on yesterday’s election results regarding capital punishment, read the coverage provided by The Marshall Project, the Catholic News Agency, and the ABA Journal. 

Here’s the gist of it:

1.  California

Two different issues placed before voters in California.  The results:  they voted AGAINST repealing the death penalty.  And they voted on a proposal that many believe will work to clear the way for executions to begin again in California.

For more on California’s Death Penalty, read our May 2011 post, "California 700+ Death Row Gets Good News: 2006 Moratorium on Death Penalty Will Continue For Now."

2.  Nebraska

Voters in Nebraska decided to put the death penalty back into action in that state.  Their legislature had repealed capital punishment, now it has returned.  Ten inmates currently reside on Nebraska’s Death Row.

For more on Nebraska’s Death Penalty, read our July 2015 post, "Two States May Bring Back the Death Penalty."

3.  Oklahoma

Voters agreed on an amendment to their state constitution which will recognize that the death penalty is not "cruel and unusual punishment" as defined by the federal constitution.  That’s not all. 

Oklahoma also passed language that will allow its state legislature to provide alternative execution methods if it is decided that the lethal injection method is unconstitutional. 

(Notice how this does not jive with earlier polling results in Oklahoma, where pollsters reported that a majority favored life without parole over the death penalty.)

For more on Oklahoma’s Death Penalty, check out our November 2015 post, "Lethal Injection Drug Controversies Stop Executions in Missouri, Ohio, and Oklahoma."

 

The State of Missouri is buying its lethal injection drugs from a pharmacy.  The identity of that supplier is a secret.

Does Pharmacy Have Constitutionally Protected Speech Over Products It Sells?

The supplier has provided the drugs used in 16 executions in the State of Missouri.

Mississippi Death Row inmates have a court fight going on over Mississippi’s lethal injection methods, and in that suit they have subpoenaed the Missouri Department of Correction’s drug source information.  It’s a part of their arguments regarding Mississippi, and they are comparing what happens in other states, too.

Here’s the question:  is the drug supplier protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution? Can its identity be kept secret under an argument that it’s related to political speech?

Whattha? 

Read the analysis of this argument by Harvard Law Professor Noah Feldman as published in Bloomberg News here. 

As you may know, the focus of Terence Lenamon’s death penalty practice is upon the second trial in a death penalty case, the sentencing phase, where a man (or woman) has been convicted of a capital crime and now, the question is whether or not the state will succeed in their quest for capital punishment.  (See, e.g., this post which includes one of Terry Lenamon’s opening statements.)

Death Penalty Sentencing Phase:  Mental Illness, Mental Disability

Often, the crux of his defense will turn on things like the mental illness or instability of his client.  Things like schizophrenia come into play.  

In some cases, the critical factor will be mental capacity or intellectual disability.  Things like traumatic brain injuries, chromosomal abnormalities, and introduction of toxins (including extended drug use) may be facts to be presented.

Jeff Wood on Texas Death Row

Terry’s not representing Jeff Wood in Texas, but he knows the fight that is being fought right now.  Attorneys for Mr. Wood are trying to stop his execution, scheduled in a matter of days. 

If they don’t succeed, Jeff Wood will die by lethal injection on August 24, 2016.

And Jeff Wood is argued to suffer both intellectual and emotional disabilities — things that his lawyers argue should make him constitutionally ineligible for that execution.

An even bigger argument?  One that goes back to the guilt or innocence phase of a death penalty trial, more than in the sentencing trial. 

Jeff Wood didn’t kill anyone.  He was sentenced to die under a Texas law that is called the "law of parties," where he is held just as liable for the death of the victim as his accomplice in crime, the person who did do the killing.  (That killer was executed back in 2002.)

So, will Texas execute Jeff Wood? 

 

It’s been about a year since Time Magazine put the Death Penalty on its cover, with an analysis of capital punishment in this country and the reasons why the Death Penalty is dying here.

 

 

Let’s Read It Again and Consider What’s Happened.

It’s a good read.  Now, here’s the question — does it hold up a year later, given that we’re seeing lots of things happening regarding the death penalty in this country.  Things like:

  • Arizona and Ohio not able to execute with lethal injection because they can’t find the drugs to do it? 
  • And Arkansas has just seen its high court rule that executions may proceed there? 
  • And Florida’s death penalty scheme is once again being challenged as unconstitutional?

The five reasons listed by Time Magazine’s David Von Drehle:

  1. Not getting better at execution.
  2. Crime rate plunged.
  3. Dwindling justifications.
  4. Governments are going broke.
  5. SCOTUS

Read it again.  See what you think.

 

 

The problem with lethal injection executions these days is that demand exceeds supply.  In a big, big way. 

Louisiana Death Penalty On Hold Because of Drug Supply for Lethal Injections

So much so that the State of Louisiana has put all its scheduled executions on hold while federal proceedings move forward that challenge the state’s execution method. 

The Louisiana Department of Corrections has run out of drugs needed for executions and the Tulsa compounding pharmacy that was to be its new source of supply has run into big trouble over in Oklahoma.  Seems its facing thousands of allegations that it has violated state pharmacy regulations as it sold execution drugs to other states, like Missouri.

For details on the story, check out this article from the Death Penalty Information Center. 

And read our earlier posts about compounding pharmacies, too, like this one out of Georgia.

 

This week, Pfizer banned the use of its drug products in U.S. executions — or anywhere else for that matter.  Pfizer isn’t setting precedent here, as much as getting in line behind almost two dozen other drug manufacturers that have already announced a company ban on the capital punishment market.

Pfizer Bans Use of Seven Pfizer Products in Lethal Injection Executions

From Pfizer’s news release (emphasis added):

Pfizer’s Position on Use of Our Products in Lethal Injections for Capital Punishment

Pfizer’s mission is to apply science and our global resources to improve health and well-being at every stage of life. We strive to set the standard for quality, safety and value in the discovery, development and manufacturing of medicines.

Pfizer makes its products to enhance and save the lives of the patients we serve. Consistent with these values, Pfizer strongly objects to the use of its products as lethal injections for capital punishment.

Pfizer’s obligation is to ensure the availability of our products to patients who rely on them for medically necessary purposes. At the same time, we are enforcing a distribution restriction for specific products that have been part of, or considered by some states for their lethal injection protocols.

These products include pancuronium bromide, potassium chloride, propofol, midazolam, hydromorphone, rocuronium bromide and vecuronium bromide.

Pfizer’s distribution restriction limits the sale of these seven products to a select group of wholesalers, distributors, and direct purchasers under the condition that they will not resell these products to correctional institutions for use in lethal injections. Government purchasing entities must certify that products they purchase or otherwise acquire are used only for medically prescribed patient care and not for any penal purposes.

Pfizer further requires that these Government purchasers certify that the product is for “own use” and will not resell or otherwise provide the restricted products to any other party.

Pfizer will consistently monitor the distribution of these seven products, act upon findings that reveal noncompliance, and modify policies when necessary to remain consistent with our stated position against the improper use of our products in lethal injections. Importantly, this distribution system is also designed to ensure that these critical medications will remain immediately available to those patients who rely on them every day.

ABOUT THESE PRODUCTS: Propofol, pancuronium bromide, midazolam, hydromorphone, rocuronium bromide, vecuronium bromide and potassium chloride are FDA-approved, medically necessary drugs administered by licensed medical professionals, thousands of times a day, in efforts to treat illness or save the lives of patients around the world. They are well established within the medical community and continue to serve important needs in surgical procedures and other treatments.

Pfizer offers these products because they save or improve lives, and markets them solely for use as indicated in the product labeling.