Posted on 05/25/2005 9:53:22 AM PDT by Borges
CHICAGO (AFP) - A death row inmate who was denied the chance to donate his liver to his ailing sister was put to death after the governor of Indiana rejected his last-minute clemency request.
Gregory Scott Johnson, 40, died by lethal injection shortly after midnight (0500 GMT), said Indiana corrections spokeswoman Java Ahmed.
Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels said he denied the request on the advice of doctors who said Johnson was not a suitable donor because he is overweight and has Hepatitis B.
Johnson was convicted in 1986 of beating an 82-year-old woman to death during a burglary and setting fire to the house to hide his crime. He has been on death row ever since.
"I accepted the sincerity of Mr. Johnson's motivation in making this offer," Daniels said in a statement released before the scheduled execution.
However several doctors wrote letters saying that Johnson's sister Debbie Otis would be "better served by accepting transplanted organs through the conventional process," Daniels added.
Johnson had exhausted all of his legal appeals when he asked a parole board May 16 to delay his execution so that doctors could determine whether his liver would be suitable for transplant.
Johnson's sister has steatohepatitis, a type of non-alcoholic hepatitis found in diabetics. A liver transplant from sibling would be her best chance for survival, doctors had told Johnson's court-appointed attorney.
But Otis's doctors told the governor Tuesday that the only procedure by which Johnson could donate his liver would be too risky for Otis.
Allowing a condemned prisoner to donate his organs would also violate guidelines issued by the United Network for Organ Sharing, the doctors wrote.
The parole board voted 4 to 0 Friday to against granting Johnson clemency.
Well, I don't. This was a cynical attempt to further delay his impending execution. There were a whole host of medical and legal issues to sort out before this could be done, gaining him years more to live.
Also, as a carrier of HepB, he is unsuitable to donate ANY body tissues.
I wonder why that is.
I was hoping they would say the procedure would too risky for the donor. LOL!
When you murder, you are denied rights.
You are denied your life; your future, and any decisions to be made. I sympathize with the sister; but it is not for the condemned to tell the courts how, when, where or under what circumstances his sentence should be carried out.
Besides, I question the viablity of the liver after exectution. In the case of the Gas Chamber or Lethal Injection, there will be toxins in the liver which will kill it. In the case of electrocution; the liver will likely be badly damaged. Unless, the death is by hanging, I don't see how this can be a point of contention.
Yet another case of the news media creating a tempest in a teapot with misleading headlines.
xactly
Well, presumably they could remove the liver and then give him the big needle. Don't even need to wake him up after surgery.
"Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels said he denied the request on the advice of doctors who said Johnson was not a suitable donor because he is overweight and has Hepatitis B."
Well. I guess fava beans and a nice chianti are out of the question, then . . . .
So there you have it. Dead is Dead.
And another one bites the dust.
In theory, yes. But that slippery slope is way too steep in my opinion. IF condemned prisoners were harvested for parts, it would not be long before some innocent somewhere were railroaded because s/he was such a great match for someone of wealth and power. They pull this s&it in China and I have no desire to see it here.
Ummmmmmmmmmm... Doesn't this little item make the whole story a moot point? The whole title is now deceptive
"Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels said he denied the request on the advice of doctors who said Johnson was not a suitable donor because he is overweight and has Hepatitis B. "
THAT alone disqualifies him.
Have a nice trip.. no tears here.
Right on target, FRiend.
"You are denied your life; your future, and any decisions to be made."
This was exactly my first thought. It's part of the punishment. This man's evil not only hurt his victim, but his family. Though rarely does it play out as it did here, it is always true.
Point taken.
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