Post by Anja on Jun 23, 2006 18:14:02 GMT -5
State says condemned Ark. killer's request should be denied
Condemned inmate Don Davis has not shown he will suffer "unnecessary pain"
during his scheduled execution, so he should be put to death as planned on
July 5, the state argued Thursday in a court filing.
"The singular issue before the Court is whether the procedure for
execution will ensure that the condemned will be rendered unconscious
prior to and throughout the period during which lethal drugs are injected
into his bloodstream so that he will be prevented from perceiving pain
during his execution," Assistant Attorney General Joseph Svoboda said in a
filing in the U.S. District Court.
Davis, 43, was sentenced to death by a Benton County jury in the slaying
of Jane Daniels of Rogers in October 1990. Daniels was shot execution
style with a .44-caliber Magnum and items were stolen from her home.
Davis is an intervenor in a lawsuit filed by another Arkansas death-row
inmate, Terrick Nooner, who argues the three drugs the state uses to kill
inmates can cause suffering and pain. The two state inmates argue the
effects of the drugs violate constitutional protections from cruel and
unusual punishment.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court voted unanimously to allow
condemned inmates to make special federal court claims that the chemicals
used in executions are too painful and inflict suffering that's barred
under the constitution.
Davis has filed for an injunction to delay his execution. But the state,
in its response Thursday, said Arkansas uses the same three chemicals -
sodium pentothal, panchromium bromide and potassium chloride - as other
death penalty states that have withstood constitutional challenges.
"37 of the 38 death penalty states use lethal injection and almost all use
the same 3-drug combination," Svoboda wrote. "Furthermore, in 2006 alone,
17 inmates have raised lethal injection challenges in a total of 7 states
but all were denied relief and the inmates executed."
Svoboda also noted that Davis has been incarcerated for 14 years but
didn't request an injunction until "the eve of his execution date."
U.S. District Judge Susan Webber Wright said in May that Davis could join
the lawsuit. On Monday, she ruled that the state didn't present enough
evidence for the suit to be dismissed.
In his injunction request, Davis doesn't claim that lethal injection
itself is unconstitutional.
"On the contrary, he alleges that the significant risk of a botched and
inhumane execution is an entirely unforeseeable consequence of the
particular conditions unnecessarily imposed by, and the failings of" the
state's lethal injection protocol, wrote Davis attorneys Alvin Schay and
Deborah Sallings.
"It is surely unconstitutional for the State to choose an execution
protocol that creates a significant risk of inflicting gratuitous
suffering and excruciating pain," the request says.
But the state argued that the lethal injection is conducted by
well-trained professionals, minimizing the risk of suffering.
The person who will administer the injection has been a practicing
emergency medical technician with more than 27 years experience and is a
certified cardiopulmonary-resuscitation instructor for the American Red
Cross, Svoboda wrote.
Arkansas last executed an inmate Nov. 28, 2005, when Eric Nance was put to
death.
(source: Associated Press)
Condemned inmate Don Davis has not shown he will suffer "unnecessary pain"
during his scheduled execution, so he should be put to death as planned on
July 5, the state argued Thursday in a court filing.
"The singular issue before the Court is whether the procedure for
execution will ensure that the condemned will be rendered unconscious
prior to and throughout the period during which lethal drugs are injected
into his bloodstream so that he will be prevented from perceiving pain
during his execution," Assistant Attorney General Joseph Svoboda said in a
filing in the U.S. District Court.
Davis, 43, was sentenced to death by a Benton County jury in the slaying
of Jane Daniels of Rogers in October 1990. Daniels was shot execution
style with a .44-caliber Magnum and items were stolen from her home.
Davis is an intervenor in a lawsuit filed by another Arkansas death-row
inmate, Terrick Nooner, who argues the three drugs the state uses to kill
inmates can cause suffering and pain. The two state inmates argue the
effects of the drugs violate constitutional protections from cruel and
unusual punishment.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court voted unanimously to allow
condemned inmates to make special federal court claims that the chemicals
used in executions are too painful and inflict suffering that's barred
under the constitution.
Davis has filed for an injunction to delay his execution. But the state,
in its response Thursday, said Arkansas uses the same three chemicals -
sodium pentothal, panchromium bromide and potassium chloride - as other
death penalty states that have withstood constitutional challenges.
"37 of the 38 death penalty states use lethal injection and almost all use
the same 3-drug combination," Svoboda wrote. "Furthermore, in 2006 alone,
17 inmates have raised lethal injection challenges in a total of 7 states
but all were denied relief and the inmates executed."
Svoboda also noted that Davis has been incarcerated for 14 years but
didn't request an injunction until "the eve of his execution date."
U.S. District Judge Susan Webber Wright said in May that Davis could join
the lawsuit. On Monday, she ruled that the state didn't present enough
evidence for the suit to be dismissed.
In his injunction request, Davis doesn't claim that lethal injection
itself is unconstitutional.
"On the contrary, he alleges that the significant risk of a botched and
inhumane execution is an entirely unforeseeable consequence of the
particular conditions unnecessarily imposed by, and the failings of" the
state's lethal injection protocol, wrote Davis attorneys Alvin Schay and
Deborah Sallings.
"It is surely unconstitutional for the State to choose an execution
protocol that creates a significant risk of inflicting gratuitous
suffering and excruciating pain," the request says.
But the state argued that the lethal injection is conducted by
well-trained professionals, minimizing the risk of suffering.
The person who will administer the injection has been a practicing
emergency medical technician with more than 27 years experience and is a
certified cardiopulmonary-resuscitation instructor for the American Red
Cross, Svoboda wrote.
Arkansas last executed an inmate Nov. 28, 2005, when Eric Nance was put to
death.
(source: Associated Press)