Post by Anja on Jun 21, 2006 1:01:25 GMT -5
Court says Oklahoma's lethal injection protocol is humane
The way Oklahoma executes killers by lethal injection is constitutional,
humane and effective, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals said Monday
in a precedent-setting, unanimous decision.
"Punishment is cruel and unusual when it involves the unnecessary and
wanton infliction of pain," the appeals court said, adding that Oklahoma's
lethal injection process does not fit that description.
It said Oklahoma and 33 other states use lethal injection, suggesting the
state "comports with contemporary standards of decency. We have in the
past held that lethal injection per se is not unconstitutional. We must
conclude that Oklahoma's execution protocol is constitutional on its
face."
The ruling came on an appeal by James Patrick Malicoat, convicted of
murdering his 13-month-old daughter in 1997 in Chickasha. The toddler
suffered abdominal bleeding, broken ribs, bite marks and extensive
bruising while in Malicoat's care.
The court set Malicoat's execution date for Aug. 22. Attorney General Drew
Edmondson had requested an execution date earlier this month.
"I am pleased with the court's decision," Edmondson said. "It's hard to
imagine that a method of punishment as humane as the one used in Oklahoma
could ever be deemed cruel and unusual. I am pleased that the Court of
Criminal Appeals has taken a giant step toward settling this issue."
Malicoat was represented by a federal public defender in Oklahoma City.
The Associated Press attempted to contact that office for comment late
Monday but got a recorded message.
A public defender had filed a protest to the death row inmate's execution,
arguing the state's death procedure "creates a substantial risk that he
will consciously suffer or experience excruciating pain during the
execution process."
The court held that Malicoat, 31, failed to back up that claim through
affidavits, including one from a Columbia University assistant professor
of anesthesiology.
Under the state's execution protocol, executions are carried out under
state law using "continuous, intravenous administration of a lethal
quality of an ultra short-acting barbiturate in combination with a
chemical paralytic agent until death is pronounced by a licensed physician
according to accepted standards of medical practice."
The court said since 2003, the Department of Corrections has administered
sodium thiopental, the short-acting barbiturate, vecuronium bromide and
potassium chloride in the execution process.
It said the inmate is rendered unconscious by the barbiturate.
The court found that noting presented on Malicoat's behalf suggested that
the execution method is "anything but humane and effective."
(source: The Daily Ardmoreite)
The way Oklahoma executes killers by lethal injection is constitutional,
humane and effective, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals said Monday
in a precedent-setting, unanimous decision.
"Punishment is cruel and unusual when it involves the unnecessary and
wanton infliction of pain," the appeals court said, adding that Oklahoma's
lethal injection process does not fit that description.
It said Oklahoma and 33 other states use lethal injection, suggesting the
state "comports with contemporary standards of decency. We have in the
past held that lethal injection per se is not unconstitutional. We must
conclude that Oklahoma's execution protocol is constitutional on its
face."
The ruling came on an appeal by James Patrick Malicoat, convicted of
murdering his 13-month-old daughter in 1997 in Chickasha. The toddler
suffered abdominal bleeding, broken ribs, bite marks and extensive
bruising while in Malicoat's care.
The court set Malicoat's execution date for Aug. 22. Attorney General Drew
Edmondson had requested an execution date earlier this month.
"I am pleased with the court's decision," Edmondson said. "It's hard to
imagine that a method of punishment as humane as the one used in Oklahoma
could ever be deemed cruel and unusual. I am pleased that the Court of
Criminal Appeals has taken a giant step toward settling this issue."
Malicoat was represented by a federal public defender in Oklahoma City.
The Associated Press attempted to contact that office for comment late
Monday but got a recorded message.
A public defender had filed a protest to the death row inmate's execution,
arguing the state's death procedure "creates a substantial risk that he
will consciously suffer or experience excruciating pain during the
execution process."
The court held that Malicoat, 31, failed to back up that claim through
affidavits, including one from a Columbia University assistant professor
of anesthesiology.
Under the state's execution protocol, executions are carried out under
state law using "continuous, intravenous administration of a lethal
quality of an ultra short-acting barbiturate in combination with a
chemical paralytic agent until death is pronounced by a licensed physician
according to accepted standards of medical practice."
The court said since 2003, the Department of Corrections has administered
sodium thiopental, the short-acting barbiturate, vecuronium bromide and
potassium chloride in the execution process.
It said the inmate is rendered unconscious by the barbiturate.
The court found that noting presented on Malicoat's behalf suggested that
the execution method is "anything but humane and effective."
(source: The Daily Ardmoreite)
