Arizona prison workers took 25 MINUTES to get an IV into death row inmate during execution: Expert says botched job is the sign of a 'desperate and unqualified executioner'

Daily Mail UK ^ | May 13, 2022 | ap

[Morgana]

Executioners in Arizona needed 25 minutes to get an IV into a death row inmate to administer a legal injection in what one expert says is the sign of an 'unqualified executioner'.

Clarence Dixon, 66, was put to death on Wednesday at the state prison in Florence for his murder conviction in the 1978 killing of 21-year-old Arizona State University student Deana Bowdoin.

He was the first inmate to be executed in the state since 2014. It appeared to follow the state's execution protocol. After the drug was injected, Dixon's mouth stayed open and his body did not move. He was declared dead about 10 minutes later.

But death penalty experts on Thursday said the estimated 25 minutes it took medical staff to insert an IV into Dixon's body was too long.

The workers first tried, and failed to insert an IV into his left arm before they were able to connect it in his right one. They then opted to make an incision, known as a 'cutdown,' in his groin area for another IV line.

Deborah Denno, a Fordham Law School professor who has studied executions for more 25 years, said executions should take seven-to-ten minutes from the beginning of the IV insertion process until the moment the prisoner is declared dead.

'It's a sign of desperation [on the part of the execution team], and it's a sign of an unqualified executioner,' Denno said.

Before Dixon was put to death, the last execution in Arizona took place in July 2014, when Joseph Wood was given 15 doses of a two-drug combination over nearly two hours. Wood snorted repeatedly and gasped before he died. The process dragged on for so long that the Arizona Supreme Court convened an emergency hearing during the execution to decide whether to halt the procedure.

[falcon99]

No, he lived 44 years and 25 minutes longer than he should have.

[Albion Wilde]

I’ve never understood why they don’t use large-animal veterinarians for this job. Although I guess farmers can still used a shot through the head when necessary for those jobs. Surely vets have had to put down very large dogs from time to time.

[Kazan]

Another reason to be bring back the electric chair.

[zeugma]

Once again. all of this drama is completely and utterly unnecessary. It just gives ammo to those who want to put an end to the death penalty. If you want to implement the death penalty, just build an airtight room. Put oxygen sensors on the windows. Pump it full of nitrogen. Wait 20 minutes, vent the nitrogen out to the roof, and and pump in regular air. Once the O2 levels are good, you wheel out the condemned. No fuss, no muss, no dangerous gasses or chemicals. No doctor violating the hippocratic oath. The job gets done, and no one can complain about it. The condemned is dead and standing before satan before he ever realizes anything is happening.

[JimRed]

However, condemned men in the USA do beat on their arm and thigh veins for weeks before an execution to make an IV impossible or non-functional.

A 45 caliber injection to the brain works every time it's tried.

[deek69]

It is weird how universal the ‘experts’ are about how, cruel the Death penalty is. Sadly I can’t seem to recall a time when one of them spoke out about this P.O.S. ruining the victims, families and love ones. This will haunt them forever.