« Ind. Law - South Bend Tribune editorial against SJR 7 | Main | Ind. Courts - More on: Evansville lawyer sentenced in misdemeanor case »

Friday, March 30, 2007

Ind. Decisions - More on lethal injection challenge pending before federal judge

As mentioned in several recent ILB entries (here for instance), an action challenging Indiana lethal injection procedures is pending before U.S. District Judge Richard L. Young. A detailed account has now been written by the AP's Tom Coyne. Some quotes:

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - A man sentenced to die by lethal injection on May 4 and another death row inmate have asked a federal judge to allow them to join a third condemned prisoner in challenging the state's execution method, alleging it constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.

David Leon Woods, who fatally stabbed a DeKalb County neighbor in April 1984, and Michael Lambert, who killed a Muncie police officer in 1990, have asked U.S. District Judge Richard L. Young in Indianapolis to allow them to join Norman Timberlake in challenging Indiana's lethal injection protocol. * * *

The state is challenging the motions by Woods, filed March 5, and by Lambert, filed March 1, saying they have known for years how the state executes inmates and have waited until now to challenge it. Adding more defendants and attorneys to the Timberlake case would only complicate it, the state claims.

Timberlake, in his argument against the state's execution method, states he "will be fully conscious and in agonizing pain for the duration of the execution process." He states that Indiana inmates who have been executed have repeatedly failed to receive adequate anesthesia and have remained conscious during the administration of lethal drugs.

The state denies its method of executing inmates constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.

Timberlake's attorneys have no objection to Woods and Lambert joining the case. Young has not yet ruled.

This is from a Chicago Tribune editorial quoted here earlier this week:
Even when the government convicts the right person, it can horribly botch the punishment. In December, it took Florida authorities 34 minutes to end the life of Angel Nieves Diaz because a poorly trained executioner incorrectly inserted a needle into his arm. The blunder prompted then-Gov. Jeb Bush to halt executions until the state improved its lethal injection procedures. * * *

Society's standards of justice and punishment continue to evolve. In the early 1900s, states began to substitute the electric chair as a more humane method of execution than the gallows. In the 1980s, lethal injection began to replace the electric chair and firing squads. Now lethal injection is coming under more scrutiny as evidence grows that it subjects the condemned to a great deal of pain. Eleven states have halted executions while they examine their lethal injection procedures.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on March 30, 2007 08:20 AM
Posted to Ind Fed D.Ct. Decisions