Post by Anja on Aug 14, 2006 3:47:20 GMT -5
Duncan defense eyeing argument against death penalty
The lawyer defending Joseph Duncan III, accused in the slayings of 3
members of a Coeur d'Alene family, has asked for details on Idaho's method
of execution in what could be a first step in challenging its
constitutionality.
Public defender John Adams earlier this week requested the state's
protocol on the method of execution from Kootenai County prosecutors. He
wants to know what drugs the state would use during lethal injection and
how they would be administered.
"The prosecutor says that if they get a conviction they're going to seek a
sentence of death," Adams told The Spokesman-Review. "There's a question
of whether Idaho has a protocol that's constitutionally acceptable for
executing prisoners. We want to know the protocol so we can address that."
Duncan has pleaded not guilty to three counts of 1st-degree murder and 3
counts of 1st-degree kidnapping in the May 16, 2005, slayings of Brenda
Kay Groene, 40; her son, Slade Vincent Groene, 13; and Mark Edward
McKenzie, 37, at their Coeur d'Alene-area home.
Taken from the home were Brenda Groene's children, 9-year-old Dylan Groene
and 8-year-old Shasta Groene. Shasta was recovered when Duncan was
arrested at a Coeur d'Alene restaurant on July 2, 2005, while Dylan's body
was subsequently found at a Montana campsite.
Federal prosecutors say that when the state case is resolved, federal
charges will be filed in the children's abductions and Dylan's death.
Mark Vovos, a defense attorney in Spokane, said some questions surrounding
executions are whether the person being executed would be given
anesthesia, whether the person would feel pain, and whether the person
would be able to let someone know they were in pain.
"Any attorney who would be death-qualified is going to challenge every
aspect of the death penalty law, and he has an obligation to do that,"
Vovos said.
Besides lethal injection, Idaho allows execution by firing squad when
lethal injection is considered "impractical." Since 1864, 27 people have
been executed in Idaho, the last in 1994.
(source: Associated Press)
The lawyer defending Joseph Duncan III, accused in the slayings of 3
members of a Coeur d'Alene family, has asked for details on Idaho's method
of execution in what could be a first step in challenging its
constitutionality.
Public defender John Adams earlier this week requested the state's
protocol on the method of execution from Kootenai County prosecutors. He
wants to know what drugs the state would use during lethal injection and
how they would be administered.
"The prosecutor says that if they get a conviction they're going to seek a
sentence of death," Adams told The Spokesman-Review. "There's a question
of whether Idaho has a protocol that's constitutionally acceptable for
executing prisoners. We want to know the protocol so we can address that."
Duncan has pleaded not guilty to three counts of 1st-degree murder and 3
counts of 1st-degree kidnapping in the May 16, 2005, slayings of Brenda
Kay Groene, 40; her son, Slade Vincent Groene, 13; and Mark Edward
McKenzie, 37, at their Coeur d'Alene-area home.
Taken from the home were Brenda Groene's children, 9-year-old Dylan Groene
and 8-year-old Shasta Groene. Shasta was recovered when Duncan was
arrested at a Coeur d'Alene restaurant on July 2, 2005, while Dylan's body
was subsequently found at a Montana campsite.
Federal prosecutors say that when the state case is resolved, federal
charges will be filed in the children's abductions and Dylan's death.
Mark Vovos, a defense attorney in Spokane, said some questions surrounding
executions are whether the person being executed would be given
anesthesia, whether the person would feel pain, and whether the person
would be able to let someone know they were in pain.
"Any attorney who would be death-qualified is going to challenge every
aspect of the death penalty law, and he has an obligation to do that,"
Vovos said.
Besides lethal injection, Idaho allows execution by firing squad when
lethal injection is considered "impractical." Since 1864, 27 people have
been executed in Idaho, the last in 1994.
(source: Associated Press)