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Federal judge delays Ohio execution after failed attempt

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] A federal judge on Friday delayed the execution of Ohio death row inmate Romell Broom, following several failed attempts at administering a lethal injection on Tuesday. Judge Gregory Frost of the US District Court for the Southern District of Ohio issued the order following claims that the multiple attempts to find a vein during the two-hour procedure constituted cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment. Ohio law requires lethal injections to "quickly and painlessly cause death." The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio is launching an investigation into the failed execution and is calling for increased transparency in the lethal injection process. Broom was convicted of the 1984 rape and murder of a 14-year-old girl. Earlier this month, the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit rejected Broom's deprivation of rights challenge to the method of execution on timeliness grounds. The same court denied Broom's request for habeas relief in 2006. In July, Ohio completed the 1000th lethal injection in the US since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. In June, the state introduced a new lethal injection procedure that requires officials to shake and call out to the prisoner after a sedative has been administered.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on September 19, 2009 (boomark / email).