Post by sclcookie on Jun 3, 2006 14:39:16 GMT -5
How much should death row inmates suffer during execution?
It's become the latest legal tactic to stop executions: claim the very way
Texas puts people to death is "cruel and unusual."
Critics say lethal injection can leave condemned inmates paralyzed but
still conscious as the chemicals kill them.
Could that really happen?
It's the method used by Texas to execute more prisoners than any state in
the nation.
You may have seen a story we did about patients who wake up during
surgery.
Could the same thing be happening to prisoners as they're being executed?
When asked if they are conscious of in essence, being suffocated to death,
"Correct," said Jared Tyler, Texas Innocence Network.
Tyler said that's what they'd call torture.
Is lethal injection a humane way to execute someone? It sure sounds better
than electrocution or hanging but some say a number of cases here in Texas
and elsewhere show it may not be any better a way to die.
Texas uses 3 chemicals: the first is supposed to put the inmate to sleep,
the next 2 paralyze the lungs, then the heart.
But last year, researchers said autopsies done in other states suggested
some inmates might still have been awake as the paralyzing drugs hit their
organs.
Just this past April, a report by a group called Human Rights Watch said
the whole lethal injection process is "slipshod" and needlessly risks
putting prisoners in "excruciating pain."
It cited several examples from Texas, including the execution of Claude
Jones, as viscous a killer as any on death row.
Early one evening 17 years ago, Jones, a thief and bank robber who was
well known to police in Houston, went with 2 accomplices to San Jacinto
County to rob what was then a liquor store.
Jones went in with this .357 Magnum and confronted the owner, Allen
Hilzendager.
"He went in there and shot him in the back," said Lacy Rogers. Rogers is
the sheriff.
"... shot him again, and shot him a 3rd time," said Gayle Currie, sister
of the victim.
There was blood everywhere. On the wall, on the floor, on Hilzendager.
We met with the family of the victim.
"He didn't have to shoot him," said his brother Ralph Hilzendager.
A senseless murder but within days, police caught Claude Jones.
And 2 weeks before Christmas in the year 2000, the State of Texas would
try to execute him.
But as the victim's family waited to witness it, they learned there was a
problem.
"They said they was having trouble finding a vein," said Hilzendager.
Jones had apparently been a junkie and executioners couldnt find a good
vein for the needle.
After reportedly looking for 30 minutes, they finally found one and the
family of the man Jones killed watched Jones die.
"Wasn't a whole lot to it, just strapped him down and put him to sleep,"
said Hilzendager.
"I don't think there was any problem with it. I think it was way too
easy," aid Currie, "My brother suffered plenty."
"I wouldn't expect the victim's family members to particularly care," said
Tyler.
Texas Innocence Network helps appeal death sentences.
"There are no staandards for how Texas puts somebody to death," Tyler
said, "There is no anesthesiologist present."
Tyler says vets have more standards for euthanizing pets.
"If the person is not rendered unconscious by the first drug, they will
feel the effects of the last 2," he said, "So basically at that point, the
inmate would basically experience suffocation."
But what are the chances of that actually happening?
"Based on what I know about the Texas procedure, its extremely unlikely,"
said Dr. Donald Prough, UTMB Galveston.
Anesthesiologist Prough said if properly given, the amount of the chemical
Texas uses to put an inmate to sleep should work within seconds.
He said it could kill them in and of itself.
Who's right?
The Supreme Court is now considering the issue.
How much should those condemned for taking innocent lives suffer in their
final moments of life.
(source: KHOU News)
It's become the latest legal tactic to stop executions: claim the very way
Texas puts people to death is "cruel and unusual."
Critics say lethal injection can leave condemned inmates paralyzed but
still conscious as the chemicals kill them.
Could that really happen?
It's the method used by Texas to execute more prisoners than any state in
the nation.
You may have seen a story we did about patients who wake up during
surgery.
Could the same thing be happening to prisoners as they're being executed?
When asked if they are conscious of in essence, being suffocated to death,
"Correct," said Jared Tyler, Texas Innocence Network.
Tyler said that's what they'd call torture.
Is lethal injection a humane way to execute someone? It sure sounds better
than electrocution or hanging but some say a number of cases here in Texas
and elsewhere show it may not be any better a way to die.
Texas uses 3 chemicals: the first is supposed to put the inmate to sleep,
the next 2 paralyze the lungs, then the heart.
But last year, researchers said autopsies done in other states suggested
some inmates might still have been awake as the paralyzing drugs hit their
organs.
Just this past April, a report by a group called Human Rights Watch said
the whole lethal injection process is "slipshod" and needlessly risks
putting prisoners in "excruciating pain."
It cited several examples from Texas, including the execution of Claude
Jones, as viscous a killer as any on death row.
Early one evening 17 years ago, Jones, a thief and bank robber who was
well known to police in Houston, went with 2 accomplices to San Jacinto
County to rob what was then a liquor store.
Jones went in with this .357 Magnum and confronted the owner, Allen
Hilzendager.
"He went in there and shot him in the back," said Lacy Rogers. Rogers is
the sheriff.
"... shot him again, and shot him a 3rd time," said Gayle Currie, sister
of the victim.
There was blood everywhere. On the wall, on the floor, on Hilzendager.
We met with the family of the victim.
"He didn't have to shoot him," said his brother Ralph Hilzendager.
A senseless murder but within days, police caught Claude Jones.
And 2 weeks before Christmas in the year 2000, the State of Texas would
try to execute him.
But as the victim's family waited to witness it, they learned there was a
problem.
"They said they was having trouble finding a vein," said Hilzendager.
Jones had apparently been a junkie and executioners couldnt find a good
vein for the needle.
After reportedly looking for 30 minutes, they finally found one and the
family of the man Jones killed watched Jones die.
"Wasn't a whole lot to it, just strapped him down and put him to sleep,"
said Hilzendager.
"I don't think there was any problem with it. I think it was way too
easy," aid Currie, "My brother suffered plenty."
"I wouldn't expect the victim's family members to particularly care," said
Tyler.
Texas Innocence Network helps appeal death sentences.
"There are no staandards for how Texas puts somebody to death," Tyler
said, "There is no anesthesiologist present."
Tyler says vets have more standards for euthanizing pets.
"If the person is not rendered unconscious by the first drug, they will
feel the effects of the last 2," he said, "So basically at that point, the
inmate would basically experience suffocation."
But what are the chances of that actually happening?
"Based on what I know about the Texas procedure, its extremely unlikely,"
said Dr. Donald Prough, UTMB Galveston.
Anesthesiologist Prough said if properly given, the amount of the chemical
Texas uses to put an inmate to sleep should work within seconds.
He said it could kill them in and of itself.
Who's right?
The Supreme Court is now considering the issue.
How much should those condemned for taking innocent lives suffer in their
final moments of life.
(source: KHOU News)