Utah scraps untested lethal drug combination for man’s August execution
8 months, 1 week ago

Utah scraps untested lethal drug combination for man’s August execution

Associated Press  

Utah officials said Saturday that they are scrapping plans to use an untested lethal drug combination in next month’s planned execution of a man in a 1998 murder case. Defense attorneys for Taberon Dave Honie, 49, had sued in state court to stop the use of the drug combination, saying it could cause the defendant “excruciating suffering.” The execution scheduled for Aug. 8 would be Utah’s first since the 2010 execution of Ronnie Lee Gardner, by firing squad. After decades of failed appeals, Honie’s execution warrant was signed last month despite defense objections to the planned lethal drug combination. Honie’s lawyers said in a petition last month that a traumatic and violent childhood coupled with his long-time drug abuse, a previous brain injury and extreme intoxication fueled Honie’s behavior when he broke into his Benn’s house and killed her.

State Drug Honie Combination Execution Utah  pentobarbital  honies  used  officials  honie  drug  instead  mans  scraps  lethal  untested  combination  execution  utah  state

History of this topic

Lethal injection, electrocution and now firing squads. A look at US execution methods
4 weeks, 2 days ago

Lethal injection, electrocution and now firing squads. A look at US execution methods

Associated Press  

HOUSTON — South Carolina is preparing this week to execute a man by firing squad, a capital punishment method that hasn’t been used in the U.S. in nearly 15 years. Since the Supreme Court lifted its ban on capital punishment in 1976, states have used five different execution methods: lethal injection, electrocution, lethal gas, firing squad and hanging. Here’s a …

Condemned inmate worried South Carolina needed 2 lethal injections doses at last execution
2 months, 1 week ago

Condemned inmate worried South Carolina needed 2 lethal injections doses at last execution

Associated Press  

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina’s latest execution should be halted so that lawyers for the condemned inmate can get more information about the drug used for lethal injection after the last prisoner put to death needed two massive doses of the sedative 11 minutes apart, the attorneys said in court papers. An anesthesiologist who reviewed the autopsy records of Richard …

Drug Used In Federal Executions May Cause 'Unnecessary Pain And Suffering,' DOJ Says
2 months, 2 weeks ago

Drug Used In Federal Executions May Cause 'Unnecessary Pain And Suffering,' DOJ Says

Huff Post  

LOADING ERROR LOADING WASHINGTON — The Justice Department is rescinding its protocol for federal executions that allowed for single-drug lethal injections with pentobarbital, after a government review raised concerns about the potential for “unnecessary pain and suffering.” Attorney General Merrick Garland’s order to withdraw the lethal injection policy comes days before President-elect Donald Trump, who is expected to restart federal …

Drug used in federal executions under Trump may cause ‘unnecessary pain and suffering,’ Garland says
2 months, 2 weeks ago

Drug used in federal executions under Trump may cause ‘unnecessary pain and suffering,’ Garland says

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department is rescinding its protocol for federal executions that allowed for single-drug lethal injections with pentobarbital, after a government review raised concerns about the potential for “unnecessary pain and suffering.” Attorney General Merrick Garland’s order to withdraw the lethal injection policy comes days before President-elect Donald Trump, who is expected to restart federal executions, is set …

Tennessee has a new execution method, 2.5 years after last scheduled execution abruptly halted
3 months ago

Tennessee has a new execution method, 2.5 years after last scheduled execution abruptly halted

Associated Press  

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — More than 2 years after Tennessee abruptly halted the execution of inmate Oscar Smith — admitting that correction officials were not following their own execution protocols — the state has announced a new method that could allow it to resume executions halted since May 2022. The Tennessee Department of Correction announced in a brief statement Friday it …

5 executions have happened over a week’s span in the US. That’s the most in decades
6 months, 1 week ago

5 executions have happened over a week’s span in the US. That’s the most in decades

Associated Press  

OKLAHOMA CITY — Death row inmates in five states have been put to death in the span of one week, an unusually high number of executions that defies a yearslong trend of decline in both the use and support of the death penalty in the U.S. Two more death row inmates, in Missouri and Texas, were pronounced dead Tuesday evening …

Utah man who killed woman is put to death by lethal injection in state’s first execution since 2010
7 months, 3 weeks ago

Utah man who killed woman is put to death by lethal injection in state’s first execution since 2010

Associated Press  

SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah man who killed his girlfriend’s mother by slashing her throat was put to death by lethal injection early Thursday in the state’s first execution since 2010. Take care.” Honie was 22 when he broke into Benn’s house in Cedar City, the tribal headquarters of the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, after a day of …

Utah officials deny clemency for man set to be executed for 1998 killing of his girlfriend’s mother
8 months, 1 week ago

Utah officials deny clemency for man set to be executed for 1998 killing of his girlfriend’s mother

Associated Press  

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah officials denied clemency Friday to a man who is set to be executed for the stabbing death of his girlfriend’s mother in 1998. “After carefully reviewing all submitted information and considering all arguments from the parties, the Board does not find sufficient cause to commute Mr. Honie’s death sentence,” Stephenson wrote. During a two-day commutation …

Utah death row inmate begs says he wasn’t in ‘right mind’ when he killed girlfriend’s mom at parole hearing
8 months, 1 week ago

Utah death row inmate begs says he wasn’t in ‘right mind’ when he killed girlfriend’s mom at parole hearing

The Independent  

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A Utah death row …

A man facing execution for 1998 murder addresses Utah parole board, asks for life sentence instead
8 months, 1 week ago

A man facing execution for 1998 murder addresses Utah parole board, asks for life sentence instead

Associated Press  

A man facing execution next month for the murder his girlfriend’s mother asked state officials Monday to spare his life, saying he is not the same person he was when he killed the woman after a day of drinking and using drugs. Taberon Dave Honie told the Utah parole board that he never planned to kill 49-year-old Claudia Benn and …

Indiana seeks first execution since 2009 after acquiring lethal injection drug, governor says
9 months ago

Indiana seeks first execution since 2009 after acquiring lethal injection drug, governor says

Associated Press  

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb said the state will resume executions for the first time in over a decade after acquiring a drug used for lethal injections. Indiana’s last execution was in 2009, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. The Indiana Department of Correction now has acquired a drug used by multiple states in lethal injections — …

Utah judge sets execution date in 1998 murder despite concerns over a new lethal injection cocktail
9 months, 3 weeks ago

Utah judge sets execution date in 1998 murder despite concerns over a new lethal injection cocktail

Hindustan Times  

A Utah judge on Monday set an August date for the execution of a man convicted in the 1998 killing of a 49-year-old woman, siding against defense attorneys concerned about a new lethal injection drug combination. Utah judge sets execution date in 1998 murder despite concerns over a new lethal injection cocktail Taberon Dave Honie, 48, is set to be …

Utah judge sets execution date in 1998 murder despite concerns over a new lethal injection cocktail
9 months, 3 weeks ago

Utah judge sets execution date in 1998 murder despite concerns over a new lethal injection cocktail

Associated Press  

A Utah judge on Monday set an August date for the execution of a man convicted in the 1998 killing of a 49-year-old woman, siding against defense attorneys concerned about a new lethal injection drug combination. It’s the first public execution in Utah since Ronnie Lee Gardner was killed by firing squad in 2010, according to Utah Department of Corrections …

Inmates allege Texas plans to use unsafe execution drugs
2 years, 2 months ago

Inmates allege Texas plans to use unsafe execution drugs

Associated Press  

HOUSTON — Texas plans to use expired and unsafe drugs to carry out executions early this year in violation of state law, three death row inmates allege in a lawsuit. Like other states in recent years, Texas has turned to compounding pharmacies to obtain pentobarbital, which it uses for executions, after traditional drugmakers refused to sell their products to prison …

Judge rules Oklahoma’s lethal injection method is constitutional following a legal challenge from dozens of death row prisoners
2 years, 9 months ago

Judge rules Oklahoma’s lethal injection method is constitutional following a legal challenge from dozens of death row prisoners

CNN  

CNN — Four days after a federal court ruled against death row inmates arguing Oklahoma’s lethal injection protocol is cruel and unusual, the state’s attorney general asked for more than two dozen executions to be scheduled. The lawsuit, brought on behalf of 28 death row prisoners, named officials with multiple Oklahoma corrections agencies and claimed the injection method causes “constitutionally …

Idaho committee kills bill expanding execution drug secrecy
3 years ago

Idaho committee kills bill expanding execution drug secrecy

Associated Press  

BOISE, Idaho — A bill that would have increased the secrecy surrounding Idaho’s execution drug suppliers died in a Senate committee hearing Wednesday on a tie vote. Idaho Department of Correction Director Josh Tewalt said potential drug suppliers want the confidentiality provisions written into state law before they will sell to Idaho’s prison officials. “The understanding has always been, if …

Oklahoma Executes Man Days Before A Trial On Whether Its Lethal Injection Method Is Legal
3 years, 1 month ago

Oklahoma Executes Man Days Before A Trial On Whether Its Lethal Injection Method Is Legal

Huff Post  

The state of Oklahoma executed Gilbert Postelle, 35, on Thursday. Gilbert Postelle's clemency application The state of Oklahoma on Thursday executed Gilbert Postelle, 35, a man with an IQ that approaches an intellectual disability who suffered from neglect and drug addiction as a child. Postelle is the fourth person killed by the state in recent months amid a lawsuit over …

House panel demands information on federal execution drug
3 years, 3 months ago

House panel demands information on federal execution drug

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — The House Oversight Committee is demanding the Justice Department provide answers about whether Biden administration officials have any plans to procure the drug used in federal executions despite an ongoing moratorium on capital punishment. Raskin and Pressley want the Justice Department to provide a briefing to the committee’s staff by Dec. 22 about the review that Garland initiated …

House panel demands information on federal execution drug
3 years, 3 months ago

House panel demands information on federal execution drug

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The House Oversight Committee is …

John Grant: Oklahoma puts first inmate to death since 2015, but witness reports he convulsed and vomited during execution
3 years, 5 months ago

John Grant: Oklahoma puts first inmate to death since 2015, but witness reports he convulsed and vomited during execution

CNN  

CNN — An Oklahoma death row inmate who was executed Thursday convulsed and vomited shortly after receiving the first drug, a witness said, in the state’s first execution since it postponed lethal injections years ago for a review. The first drug used in John Grant’s execution was midazolam, a sedative that some states introduced to execution procedures in recent years …

Prisoner objects to proposed change in execution briefings
3 years, 8 months ago

Prisoner objects to proposed change in execution briefings

Associated Press  

PHOENIX — A death row prisoner who could be among the first in Arizona to be executed in almost seven years is opposing a move that would reduce the amount of time he would have respond to the state’s request for his execution warrant. Prosecutors asked the Arizona Supreme Court two weeks ago to modify the briefing schedule in their …

South Carolina’s macabre new law won’t make execution any more humane
3 years, 10 months ago

South Carolina’s macabre new law won’t make execution any more humane

The Independent  

The best of Voices delivered to your inbox every week - from controversial columns to expert analysis Sign up for our free weekly Voices newsletter for expert opinion and columns Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. If lethal injection drugs are unavailable, …

SC delays execution, citing lack of lethal injection drugs
4 years, 4 months ago

SC delays execution, citing lack of lethal injection drugs

Associated Press  

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina Supreme Court on Monday stayed the execution of a death row prisoner after corrections officials said they couldn’t obtain the necessary lethal injection drugs in time. An attorney for the state Department of Corrections wrote in a letter to the South Carolina Supreme Court last week that the agency cannot carry out the execution …

Lawyers: Autopsy suggests inmate suffered during execution
4 years, 7 months ago

Lawyers: Autopsy suggests inmate suffered during execution

Associated Press  

CHICAGO — An inmate suffered “extreme pain” as he received a dose of pentobarbital during just the second federal execution following a 17-year lag, according to court filings by lawyers representing one of the inmates scheduled to be executed next. Those findings mean fluid quickly filled Purkey’s lungs and entered his airway up to his trachea, causing “a near-drowning” sensation, …

US carries out 1st federal execution in nearly 2 decades
4 years, 8 months ago

US carries out 1st federal execution in nearly 2 decades

India TV News  

US carries out 1st federal execution in nearly 2 decades The U.S. on Tuesday carried out its first federal execution in almost two decades, killing by lethal injection a man convicted of murdering an Arkansas family in a 1990s plot to build a whites-only nation in the Pacific Northwest. Daniel Lewis Lee's final words were: “You’re killing an innocent" The …

U.S. carries out the first federal execution in nearly two decades
4 years, 8 months ago

U.S. carries out the first federal execution in nearly two decades

LA Times  

The U.S. government on Tuesday carried out the first federal execution in almost two decades, putting to death a man who killed an Arkansas family in a 1990s plot to build a whites-only nation in the Pacific Northwest. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life, but I’m not a murderer.. You’re killing an innocent man.” The decision to …

AP Exclusive: New dates set to begin federal executions
4 years, 9 months ago

AP Exclusive: New dates set to begin federal executions

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has set new dates to begin executing federal death-row inmates following a monthslong legal battle over the plan to resume the executions for the first time since 2003. Three of the men had been scheduled to be put to death when Barr announced the federal government would resume executions last year, ending an informal moratorium …

Filing: Emails raise questions of execution drugs access
5 years, 2 months ago

Filing: Emails raise questions of execution drugs access

Associated Press  

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Two Tennessee inmates executed by electrocution and a third who has chosen to die in the electric chair next month were not informed about a problem with a lethal injection drug, even as they chose the chair and waived their rights to challenge execution methods, an attorney for death row inmates wrote in a court filing Tuesday. …

Official: Arizona to resume executions after 5-year hiatus
5 years, 8 months ago

Official: Arizona to resume executions after 5-year hiatus

Associated Press  

PHOENIX — Arizona is poised to resume executions after a five-year hiatus brought on by an execution that critics said was botched, a subsequent lawsuit challenging the way the state carries out the death penalty, and the difficulty of finding lethal injection drugs, Attorney General Mark Brnovich said. “Regardless of where they go to get the drugs for executions, we …

Governor says ‘no executions’ without court-backed drugs
6 years, 1 month ago

Governor says ‘no executions’ without court-backed drugs

Associated Press  

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Recent statements and actions by Gov. Last month, the Republican governor ordered the prison system to come up with a new lethal drug protocol after a federal judge’s scathing critique of the first drug in Ohio’s method. Last week, DeWine said Ohio “certainly could have no executions” during that search and the court challenges that would follow …

States Study Use of Fentanyl as Execution Drug
7 years, 3 months ago

States Study Use of Fentanyl as Execution Drug

Huff Post  

By Christopher Zoukis Faced with pharmaceutical supplier refusals, states are having serious difficulty obtaining the lethal drugs used for current execution protocols, so they are increasingly examining alternatives — including fentanyl, the synthetic drug that is in large part responsible for the nation’s deadly opioid epidemic. The difficulty obtaining chemicals needed for current execution protocols has also led some of …

Ohio Postpones 8 Executions Amidst Legal Challenge To Lethal Injection Procedure
8 years, 1 month ago

Ohio Postpones 8 Executions Amidst Legal Challenge To Lethal Injection Procedure

NPR  

Ohio Postpones 8 Executions Amidst Legal Challenge To Lethal Injection Procedure Enlarge this image toggle caption Andrew Welsh-Huggins/AP Andrew Welsh-Huggins/AP Gov. John Kasich has put Ohio executions on hold until May, citing a legal challenge to the state's three-drug lethal injection protocol. After five days of hearings, U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Michael Merz blocked three upcoming executions in a …

Lawyers for inmates rip revised execution procedures
8 years, 2 months ago

Lawyers for inmates rip revised execution procedures

Associated Press  

PHOENIX — Lawyers for death-row inmates say recent changes to Arizona’s procedures for carrying out the death penalty didn’t do enough to confront abuses in the state’s power to decide the methods and amounts of drugs used in executions. Attorneys for the condemned inmates said in court papers filed Friday that the state’s corrections director, under the revisions, still has …

Some lethal injection problems in US executions
8 years, 3 months ago

Some lethal injection problems in US executions

Associated Press  

Since Texas became the first state to use lethal injection as its execution method on Dec. 7, 1982, some problems have been reported during the process nationwide. Texas inmate Raymond Landry was pronounced dead 40 minutes after being strapped to the execution gurney and 24 minutes after the drugs started flowing into his arms. Indiana inmate Tommie J. Smith’s lethal …

California proposes new single-drug method for executions
9 years, 4 months ago

California proposes new single-drug method for executions

LA Times  

The lethal injection chamber at San Quentin State Prison that was completed in 2010 but has never been put to use. California unveiled a new method for executing prisoners Friday, proposing a “humane and dignified” single-drug injection protocol that could restart capital punishment after a nearly 10-year hiatus. The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation proposed another method and had a …

Drugs derail Oklahoma execution, cast doubt on protocols
9 years, 5 months ago

Drugs derail Oklahoma execution, cast doubt on protocols

Associated Press  

OKLAHOMA CITY — Despite more than a year of painstaking training and preparation to ensure that executions in Oklahoma were performed without a hitch, the state’s latest attempt to lethally inject an inmate was thwarted by a last-minute glitch — the wrong drugs were delivered to the prison. Pruitt’s request was granted Friday, indefinitely staying the scheduled executions of three …

Oklahoma court stops 3 pending executions after drug glitch
9 years, 6 months ago

Oklahoma court stops 3 pending executions after drug glitch

Associated Press  

OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma’s highest criminal court unanimously agreed Friday to halt all of the state’s scheduled executions after its prison system received the wrong drug for a lethal injection this week. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals granted the state’s request and issued indefinite stays of execution for Richard Glossip, Benjamin Cole and John Grant. Prison officials who opened …

High court ruling won’t settle Louisiana execution questions
9 years, 9 months ago

High court ruling won’t settle Louisiana execution questions

Associated Press  

— Disputes about Louisiana’s execution method weren’t settled by the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling Monday that a controversial drug can continue to be used in lethal injections. But James Hilburn, a lawyer representing the state penitentiary and Corrections Department, said that won’t end an ongoing federal lawsuit by five death row inmates challenging Louisiana’s new execution protocol, which has never …

MAP: Lethal Injection By Far The Most Popular Execution Method In U.S.
9 years, 9 months ago

MAP: Lethal Injection By Far The Most Popular Execution Method In U.S.

NPR  

MAP: Lethal Injection By Far The Most Popular Execution Method In U.S. Enlarge this image toggle caption Pat Sullivan/AP Pat Sullivan/AP States may continue using a popular but controversial drug in lethal injection executions, the Supreme Court ruled on Monday in a 5-4 decision. Sponsor Message Today, lethal injection is by far the most popular method of execution in US …

Three of Utah’s 8 death row inmates have chosen firing squads
10 years ago

Three of Utah’s 8 death row inmates have chosen firing squads

LA Times  

Utah’s decision to bring back the firing squad to carry out death sentences is the latest step in the continuing battle over how the state imposes capital punishment. Gary R. Herbert signed a law Monday that makes the firing squad the approved method of execution if drugs needed to carry out a lethal injection are unavailable. “It was the obvious …

Utah Brings Back Firing Squads As Lethal Injection Drugs Remain Scarce
10 years ago

Utah Brings Back Firing Squads As Lethal Injection Drugs Remain Scarce

NPR  

Utah Brings Back Firing Squads As Lethal Injection Drugs Remain Scarce Enlarge this image toggle caption Trent Nelson/AP Trent Nelson/AP Utah became the only state that allows firing squads for executions when Gov. Gary Herbert signed a law Monday approving the method for use when no lethal injection drugs are available, even though he has called it "a little bit …

2 states conduct executions using single drug
10 years, 7 months ago

2 states conduct executions using single drug

Associated Press  

ST. LOUIS — Two of the nation’s most active death penalty states have quietly carried on with executions despite a shortage of lethal-injection drugs, turning to pentobarbital, a powerful sedative that generally puts inmates to death swiftly and without complications. “There is a better drug, and that better drug is pentobarbital,” said Kent Scheidegger, legal director of the pro-death penalty …

How did Arizona execution go wrong?
10 years, 8 months ago

How did Arizona execution go wrong?

LA Times  

For the third time this year, a state has set out to execute a convicted murderer but found itself unable to cleanly carry out the sentence. The continuing problems have raised questions about whether the nation’s current methods for carrying out capital punishment — a patchwork of drugs, dosages and needle techniques — can result in a humane death. After …

Opinion: This is a civilized society? Three face possible executions this week.
10 years, 9 months ago

Opinion: This is a civilized society? Three face possible executions this week.

LA Times  

In the first executions since Oklahoma in effect tortured a condemned man to death last month, three convicted killers face death by lethal injection this week in cases that reflect the barbaric absurdity of the practice. The first man slated for the gurney is Marcus Wellons, 59, who faces a single massive dose of pentobarbital at 4 p.m. Tuesday in …

Ohio Will Increase Dosage Of Drugs In Lethal Injection
10 years, 11 months ago

Ohio Will Increase Dosage Of Drugs In Lethal Injection

NPR  

Ohio Will Increase Dosage Of Drugs In Lethal Injection Ohio has concluded that Dennis McGuire did not suffer any pain during his execution last January, the state's Department of Rehabilitation & Correction said Monday. Enlarge this image toggle caption Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction/AP Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction/AP McGuire was executed using a new cocktail of drugs. …

Secrecy surrounds execution drugs in US states
10 years, 11 months ago

Secrecy surrounds execution drugs in US states

Associated Press  

ST. LOUIS — Dating to the days when the guillotine operator or the hangman wore a mask, a certain amount of anonymity has always surrounded executions. Most states have refused to name the “compounding pharmacies” supplying execution drugs, citing concerns about a backlash that could endanger the supplier’s safety. Last week, an Oklahoma judge voided the state’s execution law, agreeing …

Oklahoma court delays executions over plan to change lethal drugs
11 years ago

Oklahoma court delays executions over plan to change lethal drugs

LA Times  

<i>This post has been updated. See note below.</i> HOUSTON — An Oklahoma appeals court on Tuesday postponed two executions after state officials revealed they were planning to change lethal injection drugs due to a shortage. Oklahoma is one of several death penalty states grappling with the legal ramifications of adjusting lethal injection drugs after major drug makers — many based …

US state readies for fourth execution in four months
11 years, 1 month ago

US state readies for fourth execution in four months

India TV News  

St Louis: A man convicted of abducting, raping and killing a Kansas City teenager in 1989 will be executed using a lethal drug provided by a new supplier if last-minute appeals on Tuesday don't stay Missouri's fourth execution in as many months. They have also raised concerns that the state executes men before appeals are complete, and claim Taylor's original …

Prolonged execution renews debate over death by lethal injection
11 years, 2 months ago

Prolonged execution renews debate over death by lethal injection

LA Times  

HOUSTON — An Ohio inmate’s drawn-out execution this week led to an outcry about the increased use of new lethal injection drugs by the country’s 32 death penalty states, a practice that experts predict will lead to more problems. His lethal injection was a combination of two drugs never tried before in a U.S. execution, according to experts at the …

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