[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----N.C., S.C., MISS., OHIO, TENN., ARK.

[Rick Halperin]

March 3



NORTH CAROLINA:

Deliberations begin Friday in death penalty for Nathan Holden


After testimony from nearly 50 witnesses and experts, a Wake County jury in the 
Nathan Holden double murder case will begin deliberating Friday morning about 
whether to sentence him to death or life in prison.

Holden, 32, shot and killed his ex-wife's parents, Angelia Smith Taylor and 
Sylvester Taylor, and shot and pistol-whipped his ex-wife, LaTonya Allen, at 
their home in Wendell on April 9, 2014.

LaTonya Allen's 3 children with Holden, a 15-year-old boy and 2 8-year-old 
girls, were in the home at the time, but they were unharmed.

During closing arguments, Assistant District Attorney Matt Lively said Holden's 
case is "the type of case that calls for the death penalty."

Assistant District Attorney Jason Waller reminded the jury that Holden's 
violence extended long after the murders.

"From the moment he walked in the door, to the moment the handcuffs were put on 
him ... the violence he showed to Angelia, Sylvester, LaTonya, his kids, law 
enforcement, is for your consideration," Waller said.

(source: WRAL news)






SOUTH CAROLINA:

>From firing squads to gas, legislators explore ways to execute death row 
inmates in absence of lethal drugs


South Carolina has no way of executing its more than 30 death row inmates, and 
state legislators are exploring how to fix that.

A Senate panel discussed Thursday looking into alternatives to lethal 
injection, the method the state most commonly used until the last set of drugs 
expired in 2013. Since then, the state has had no way of executing any of the 
38 inmates on death row unless they choose to die by electrocution.

Bryan Stirling, director of the Department of Corrections, said the agency has 
been unable to obtain alternative drugs, because pharmaceutical companies that 
compounded them in the past have received a lot of outside pressure to end the 
practice.

During the hearing, several alternative methods of execution - from lethal gas 
to firing squads to morphine - were discussed. Sen. William Timmons, 
R-Greenville, suggested using fentanyl - an illegal, synthetically produced 
opioid that is often laced with heroin - that is seized by police.

"We need to make sure that these products are effective and don't cause cruel 
and unusual punishment," Stirling said. "We need to be careful how we do this."

Stirling said he has looked into having the agency compound the drugs, but the 
most recent estimate placed the cost at about $1 million. He suggested the 
legislature pass a "shield law," which would guarantee secrecy to pharmacies 
that provide the state with the drugs needed for lethal injections.

Even then, the corrections department would have to count on a drug company's 
willingness to accept the shield law, said Sen. Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg.

"You're in a difficult spot," Hutto told Stirling. "You've been given a task 
that you can't carry out."

The state's longest-serving death row inmate, Fred Singleton, cannot be 
executed until he is declared mentally fit to face a sentencing trial. He was 
initially sentenced to death in 1983 for the rape and murder of a Newberry 
teacher.

There are no pending orders to execute an inmate. The majority of cases 
involving inmates slated for execution are in litigation. The last inmate to be 
executed in South Carolina was 36-year-old Jeffrey Motts in 2011.

As it was in Motts' case, any of the state's death row inmates could 
"volunteer" to be executed by dropping all appeals. After that, corrections 
department would have no way carrying out the execution unless the inmate 
chooses electrocution.

If an inmate suddenly volunteers for the death chamber, Stirling said he 
doesn't know what would happen without the needed drugs.

"We're in a place that we've never been before with lethal injection, 
electrocution and death penalty," Stirling said. "If we can't carry it out, we 
can't carry it out."

(source: thestate.com)

*****************

Lawmakers Discuss Execution Options Since SC Has No Lethal Injection Drugs


South Carolina has 38 men on death right now but no way to carry out the death 
penalty. State law makes lethal injection the default method of execution but 
the state's lethal injection drugs expired several years ago and pharmaceutical 
companies have refused to sell the state any more. While lethal injection is 
the default method, an inmate can choose the electric chair.

State Department of Corrections director Bryan Stirling appeared before a 
special Senate Study Subcommittee on Corrections Thursday to talk about the 
problem and possible solutions. He first told lawmakers about the problem 2 
years ago and asked them to pass a shield law, which would prevent the public 
release of the names of any pharmaceutical companies that sell the drugs to the 
state. But the bill did not pass. Death penalty opponents are against any kind 
of secrecy surrounding the state carrying out the death penalty.

Sen. William Timmons, R-Greenville, asked director Stirling how states like 
Texas are able to carry out executions using lethal injection. He asked, "Why 
can they do it and we can't?"

"They won't say," Stirling said. "I don't know if they have a compounding 
pharmacy themselves. I don't know if they've found a compounding pharmacy. I 
don't know if they've found a company that will sell it to them. I know that 
they have somewhat of a shield law also."

A compounding pharmacy would be able to manufacture the drugs needed for lethal 
injections. Stirling said he looked into the department setting up its own 
compounding pharmacy but found out it would cost about $1 million.

Senators also asked if it would be possible to use some other drug, since 
people die every day from lethal overdoses. Sen. Timmons asked, "What happens 
if use seized fentanyl? You get sued? It's cruel and unusual punishment? What? 
What happens?"

Stirling replied, "Well, I'd point you to Oklahoma, where there were some 
problems. I think it was Oklahoma, where there were some problems with an 
execution where someone writhed on the table for I think it was 30 minutes. So 
we need to make sure that these products are, I know this is ironic for me to 
say this, but effective and don't cause cruel and unusual punishment as 
directed by our Bill of Rights in the Constitution."

Senators also asked about other options like a firing squad or poisonous gas. 
Any change would require lawmakers to take action. They could pass a shield 
law, which might allow the state to buy the lethal injection drugs. They could 
change the law to make the electric chair the default method of execution. Or 
they could adopt an additional method, like firing squad or gas chamber. 
Stirling said any change would likely lead to a lengthy court fight.

Sen. Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg, told Stirling, "You're in a difficult spot. 
You've been given a task that you can't carry out and it's not your fault. 
You're asking us for help."

(source: WJHL news)






MISSISSIPPI:

Perry opines on execution options in Mississippi


The fights over where executions would occur show the distaste even proponents 
of the death penalty have over the practice; as it should be.

In my college freshman speech class I spoke passionately against the death 
penalty. 4 years later in graduate school I took the opposite position and 
advocated for the death penalty. Later I fell somewhere in between: believing 
the state may employ capital punishment but is not required to do so for 
justice sake. A comprehensive view of the sanctity of life seems to discourage 
the death penalty.

Today, I don't believe the death penalty serves as a deterrent or is a 
cost-efficient way of handling criminals. Perhaps both could be true, but 
potentially at the cost of due process. It certainly doesn't function in a 
system based on "corrections." I lean toward the idea that the only punishment 
that does deliver justice for certain crimes is execution. But it is a somber 
and regrettable justice not to be celebrated.

Fortunately for me, my decision doesn't matter. Prosecutors, juries, judges, 
legislators and the governor must wrestle with that.

For now, as Attorney General Hood has said, if the state is going to have 
capital punishment it must have a constitutional way of carrying it out. That 
might not include a firing squad, but the legislature is poised to provide 
options other than lethal injection: including a return to electrocution.

(source: Brian Perry, Opinion; Neshoba Democrat)

***************

Gas Chamber And Electric Chair Closer To Return In Mississippi


The Mississippi Senate has voted to add gas chamber and electrocution as 
execution options in case courts block the state from obtaining lethal 
injection drugs.

Lethal injection is Mississippi's only execution method. The state faces 
lawsuits claiming drugs it plans to use would violate constitutional 
prohibitions against cruel and unusual punishment.

The House voted Feb. 8 for House Bill 638 to add firing squad, electrocution 
and gas chamber. A Senate committee removed firing squad Feb. 23. Amid 
opposition, the Senate voted Thursday to return the bill to the House.

Mississippi hasn't been able to acquire lethal drugs it once used, and its last 
execution was in 2012.

The Death Penalty Information Center says of 33 states with the death penalty, 
only Oklahoma and Utah have firing squad as an option.

(source: Associated Press)






OHIO:

Condemned Akron inmate's execution put on hold during appeals


The Ohio Supreme Court placed the execution of an Akron man convicted of 
killing the mother of his children and her boyfriend on hold until all of his 
appeals have been settled.

Dawud Spaulding was set to be executed in 2021 for the aggravated murders of 
Erica Singleton and Ernest Thomas, and a shooting that left Thomas' nephew, 
Patrick Griffin, paralyzed from the waist down.

But the Court, which upheld Spaulding's death sentence in December, agreed on 
Thursday to delay Spaulding's execution. Such decisions are routine in 
death-penalty cases.

Spaulding, a serial abuser of Singleton, shot the the nephew in the neck 
outside Thomas' apartment on Grant Street in 2012, police said. The shooting 
left the nephew paralyzed from the neck down.

Police cleared the scene from the roommate's shooting about 5 a.m. 3 hours 
later, they were called back to the apartment after a neighbors heard gunshots 
and found the bodies of Singleton and Thomas lying next to their cars, both 
with gunshot wounds to the back of their heads.

Singleton left her children with her mother the day before and had a piece of 
luggage with her when she was shot. Officers found more luggage in her car, 
police said.

Spaulding was convicted in 2012 of aggravated murder, felonious assault, 
domestic violence and a host of other charges. He was sentenced to death in 
January 2013.

Griffin is currently serving 1 year of federal house arrest after he pleaded 
guilty in 2015 to Hobbs Act extortion. He was charged along with childhood 
friend Franklin Conley of trying to force former Ohio State University running 
back Chris "Beanie" Wells to pay them tens of thousands of dollars after Wells' 
brother set up a drug deal in which both men lost money.

(source: cleveland.com)






TENNESSEE:

Tennessee doesn't have drugs needed to carry out lethal injection


The Tennessee prison system doesn't have the drug needed to carry out a lethal 
injection, and ongoing issues with accessibility of the drugs call in to 
question the likelihood Tennessee could obtain those drugs when the next 
execution is scheduled.

But if executions resume in Tennessee - the last was in 2009 - the state will 
be ready to administer a lethal injection, said Tennessee Department of 
Correction General Counsel Debbie Inglis.

Carrying out death sentences has stalled, as the state's top judges weigh a 
challenge to Tennessee's protocol, which calls for the state to use the drug 
pentobarbital for its injections.

Inglis, who also serves as a deputy commissioner of administration for the 
department, told reporters Thursday after a tour of Riverbend Maximum Security 
Institution in Nashville that the department "anticipates we could carry out" 
an execution by lethal injection as needed. She said that means the state could 
obtain the drug closer to the time of the execution. However, Inglis didn't 
elaborate on how the department would actually get those drugs.

"We can not discuss how we will procure the lethal injection chemicals," 
department spokeswoman Neysa Taylor said, in response to follow up questions 
emailed Thursday.

The fact the department does not have the required drug is key because it means 
the state could instead turn to its backup method. Tennessee is one of only 2 
states in the country that allows for execution by electric chair if drugs for 
a lethal injection are not available, according to the Death Penalty 
Information Center. The other state is Oklahoma, which also allows for 
execution via nitrogen gas.

For the 31 states that still allow the death penalty, access to the drugs used 
in lethal injections has been a challenge. But it's not impossible to find 
them.

"Other states have said they've had difficulty obtaining drugs," said Robert 
Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, a nonprofit 
clearinghouse that opposes the death penalty. "We know that Texas, Georgia and 
Missouri have carried out a majority of executions in the last couple of years 
with pentobarbital."

Major manufacturers of the drugs in the United States and Europe have refused 
to sell it for use in executions, and the drugs have a shelf life.

"That has led to questions about how will states get those drugs," he said. 
"Will they do so legitimately, or are they going to break the law in order to 
try and carry out executions? Many states have adopted secrecy provisions in 
one form or another that make it more difficult for the public to figure out 
what's actually happening."

Some states have turned to compounding pharmacies, which mix their own drugs 
from raw materials. Those pharmacies have faced scrutiny, including in an 
ongoing federal trial in Boston over tainted steroids that led to a deadly, 
nationwide outbreak of meningitis in 2012. In 2015, Georgia delayed a woman's 
execution for 6 months after finding the lethal dose of compounded 
pentobarbital it planned to use was cloudy and didn't look right.

Generally, there are questions as to whether the drugs used here and in other 
states should be used. Recent examples in Oklahoma and other states where 
inmates have writhed and clearly been in pain, at times for hours, during the 
execution process relaunched debate about whether lethal injection is cruel and 
unusual punishment and thus unconstitutional.

But the Tennessee Supreme Court has suggested there has to be a way to carry 
out executions because court precedent has held the death sentence 
constitutional. In October, the court heard a legal challenge to the state's 
current lethal-injection protocol. More than 30 condemned inmates brought the 
legal challenge, saying the use of only pentobarbital creates the risk of a 
lingering, or drawn-out, death. That case has forced the state to unschedule 
executions and put them on hold.

The court's ruling, which could happen at any time, may lead to executions 
being scheduled again as soon as this year.

All executions are carried out at Riverbend, the only prison in the state that 
has a death row for male inmates. There are currently 61 inmates, 60 men and 1 
woman, on death row in Tennessee.

(source: The Tennessean)






ARKANSAS:

After 12 years, executions could return in April---Gov. Hutchinson sets dates 
for 4 double executions with all the drugs needed


The lives of 8 Arkansas death row inmates are once again in jeopardy with their 
execution dates set after the United States Supreme Court Feb. 21 chose not to 
hear a challenge to the state???s death penalty statutes.

The dismissal allowed Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge and Gov. Asa 
Hutchinson to reschedule the execution dates. On Feb. 27, Hutchinson issued 
proclamations announcing the 8 men will be executed in pairs on days between 
April 17-27.

Sister Joan Pytlik, DC, minister for religious at the Diocese of Little Rock 
and a member of the Arkansas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, called the 
Supreme Court decision a "grave disappointment."

"I hope that all the people, all the Catholics would send a message to the 
governor that they do not want an execution in their name," she said.

"The setting of 4 executions within 10 days is gruesome and brutal." Sister 
Joan Pytlik, DC

Sister Joan isn't a fan of how the executions were scheduled in April either.

"The setting of 4 executions within 10 days is gruesome and brutal. The 
governor says it will bring closure for the victims' families, but as Sister 
Helen Prejean ("Dead Man Walking") has taught us, the only real closure comes 
with forgiveness. We all need to pray for divine intervention - either no drugs 
are procured, or the appeals kick in, and the victims' families find 
forgiveness and peace."

No death row inmate has been executed in Arkansas since 2005.

The ACADP released a statement March 1 about the scheduled executions, stating 
in part that it is "outraged by Governor Asa Hutchinson's plans to carry out 8 
executions within the span of ten days in April. This planned mass execution is 
grotesque and unprecedented ... Gov. Hutchinson continuously points to the 
death penalty as a deterrent to crime, when 88 % of the country's top 
criminologists agree that the death penalty does not act as a deterrent to 
homicide. Instead of offering counseling and grieving programs for families of 
the victims, Gov. Hutchinson suggests that additional killing is the relief 
that these families need."

Attorney Jeff Rosenzweig, who represents 9 inmates, e8 of which had executions 
scheduled, said in a Feb. 22 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette article he was "studying 
options" going forward. There are 34 death row inmates in Arkansas.

The execution dates are Don Davis and Bruce Earl Ward, April 17; Ledelle Lee 
and Stacey Johnson, April 20; Marcell Williams and Jack Jones Jr., April 24; 
and Jason McGehee and Kenneth Williams, April 27.

The ACADP hopes to again file a bill before March 7 that eliminates the death 
penalty for capital crimes, leaving only life without parole, Sister Joan said. 
It was the same Senate bill that passed in committee in 2015, but it was not 
put before the Senate. It was in need of a sponsor as of press time.

Act 1096, which allows the sources of the 3-drug lethal cocktail that will 
sedate, paralyze and then stop the heart during an execution to remain 
anonymous, was passed into law in 2015. At that time, Rosenzweig filed a 
lawsuit that argued concealing the drug sources would not allow the inmates to 
determine whether or not they would be subjected to cruel and unusual 
punishment, which has been seen in other executions in the country using 
midazolam, vecuronium bromide and potassium chloride. Gov. Hutchinson scheduled 
the executions for October 2015.

The executions were stayed Dec. 3, 2015, after Pulaski County Circuit Judge 
Wendell Griffen called the law unconstitutional. On June 23, 2016, the Arkansas 
Supreme Court ruled 4-3 in favor of the law, saying that revealing the drug 
source would be "detrimental to the process." Advocates for keeping the drug 
sources secret have argued that companies who supply the drugs for executions 
could face criticism. The state spent $24,226.40 on the drugs for the 8 
scheduled executions. On New Year's Day this year, the potassium chloride 
expired. A barbiturate can also be used for a single-drug method in an 
execution under the law, according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Hutchinson told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in a Feb. 28 article that he's 
been "assured" that the drugs will be procured in time for the scheduled 
executions.

The U.S. Supreme Court, which also refused to hear other inmate death-penalty 
challenges from Alabama, Ohio, Texas and Virginia, had Justices Sonia Sotomayor 
and Stephen Breyer dissent.

"Science and experience are now revealing that, at least with respect to 
midazolam-centered protocols, prisoners executed by lethal injection are 
suffering horrifying deaths beneath a 'medically sterile aura of peace,'' 
Sotomayor wrote.

Sister Joan said some politicians use Scripture to support the death penalty 
with verses like Exodus 21:23-25 that calls for "an eye for an eye." But Jesus 
directly disputes the "eye for an eye mentality" in Matthew 5:38-48 and asks 
people to "love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you, forgive them," 
she said.

"They don't go for the line that says 'vengeance is mine' or God says I put 
before your life and death; choose life that you may live," Sister Joan said, 
pointing out that Jesus was also a victim of the death penalty. "He certainly 
wasn't for the death penalty, which he received, but he forgave."

(source: Arkansas Catholic)

************************************

Arkansas plan to execute 8 men over 10 days 'unprecedented'


8 men are scheduled to be executed by lethal injection in Arkansas in the space 
of just 10 days, according to Gov. Asa Hutchinson's office.

The state -- which has not put anyone to death for 11 years -- plans to execute 
the men in pairs between April 17 and April 27.

"This action is necessary to fulfill the requirement of the law," Gov. 
Hutchinson said in a statement sent to CNN on Thursday. "But it is also 
important to bring closure to the victims' families who have lived with the 
court appeals and uncertainty for a very long time."

So many executions in such a short amount of time is "unprecedented" in the 
United States, a spokesman for a group that monitors US executions said.

Since the resumption of the use of the death penalty in 1977, only twice has a 
state conducted 8 executions in a single calendar month, said Robert Dunham, 
executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center. That was Texas in 
May and June of 1977. But,"No state has ever conducted 8 executions over a 
10-day period," Dunham said.

31 states currently administer the death penalty and lethal injection is the 
primary means of execution in all of them. The number of executions carried out 
in the United States fell to a 25-year low in 2016.

Death penalty opponents were quick to criticize the planned executions.

"The Arkansas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (ACADP) is outraged by ... 
plans to carry out 8 executions within the span of 10 days in April," the 
organization said. "This planned mass execution is grotesque and 
unprecedented."

Attorneys for the 8 men are attempting to block the executions.

They argue that Midazolam -- the drug used to render inmates unconscious before 
they are given 2 more drugs that paralyze and kill them -- does not effectively 
keep those being executed from experiencing a painful death.

The 2nd drug, pancuronium bromide, paralyzes the inmate. The 3rd, potassium 
chloride, brings on cardiac arrest and stops the heart.

"Unless the prisoner is unconscious, then drugs 2 and 3 will cause pain -- 
torturous punishment, in violation of the Eighth Amendment, and state 
guarantees against cruel and unusual punishment," said Jeffrey Rosenzweig, an 
attorney for 3 of the inmates.

He pointed to what he said were "botched executions" in several states that 
also involved Midazolam.

Most recently an execution in Alabama rekindled the debate regarding lethal 
injection. During his execution, Ronald B. Smith, reportedly "appeared to be 
struggling for breath and heaved and coughed and clenched his left fist," 
according to reporting by AL.com.

Reports also have emerged from executions in Oklahoma, Ohio and Arizona that 
inmates visibly struggled -- and possibly woke up -- after the final two 
injections were administered. "Midazolam may put you to sleep initially," 
Dunham told CNN, "but it doesn't render you insensate."

Dunham said the succession of so many executions raises the risk of something 
going wrong.

"To attempt 8 executions with Midazolam -- including 4 multiple executions -- 
is unheard of and reckless," Dunham told CNN.

Rosenzweig said the attorneys have also asked for clarification of whether or 
not a previously granted stay of execution is still in effect in Arkansas.

The stay was put in place while nine inmates asked the US Supreme Court to 
review an Arkansas Supreme Court decision to uphold the statutes that outline 
the state's execution protocol.

The high court declined to hear the case last week, and Arkansas Attorney 
General Leslie Rutledge said at the time in a press release that the decision 
cleared the path for executions to resume.

Supply of "heart-stopping" drug expired last month

It remains unclear whether or not the Arkansas Department of Corrections will 
be able to go ahead with the executions as planned.

Rosenzweig said any of the inmates could file last-minute challenges or 
appeals. The state also is missing one of the drugs required in the execution 
procedure.

According to Solomon Graves, a spokesman for the state corrections' department, 
Arkansas' supply of potassium chloride -- the final drug to be administered -- 
expired last month. But Gov. Hutchinson's spokesman, JR Davis, said the 
governor "is confident in the department's ability to procure the expired 
drug."

Graves also said that the state's supply of Midazolam is set to expire in April 
2017. Critics including the ACADP say the state is racing to execute the 
inmates before the drug expires. "This expiration date is directly linked to 
the state's urgency to execute 8 men in 10 days," the ACADP said.

Arkansas code allows execution by electrocution if the state is unable to use 
lethal injection, though Rosenzweig thinks that would be difficult. "I think 
the general consensus is electrocution is cruel and unusual punishment," he 
said. "If they attempt to do that, that's going to engender other challenges."

Attorney: Use of Midazolam result of 'herd mentality'

The controversy surrounding the use of Midazolam has been brewing for several 
years.

In 2010, European drug manufacturers began to ban exports of the cocktail 
ingredients to the United States.

The following year, concerned about the use of sodium thiopental in executions, 
Illinois-based Hospira stopped making the drug, and Denmark-based Lundbeck 
banned US prisons from using its pentobarbital.

The United Kingdom also introduced a ban on exporting sodium thiopental, and 
the European Union also has taken an official stance -- by approving trade 
restrictions on goods used for capital punishment and torture.

States have since turned to Midazolam as a substitute, but Dunham said there is 
no clear reason why. "There has been a herd mentality when it comes to 
execution drugs and procedures," he said, and after one state was able to carry 
out an execution using Midazolam, others followed.

(source: CNN)