Update: Morales Execution Delayed - (CDC Official Calls Morales 'Upbeat' and 'Cooperative’)

UPDATE: CDC OFFICIAL CALLS MORALES 'UPBEAT' AND 'COOPERATIVE' 02/20/06 8:55 PST SAN QUENTIN (BCN)

In the hours before his execution at San Quentin State Prison, condemned inmate Michael Morales met only with his legal team and has been described by a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation official as "upbeat'' and "cooperative.''

Morales, 46, was moved into what is known as the death watch cell at 6 p.m. today, according to CDC spokeswoman Elaine Jennings.

The move came just hours after the U.S. Supreme Court denied Morales' final two appeals.

Jennings said Morales has been described as "upbeat'' and "very positive.'' He has also been "very cooperative'' with prison staff, she said.

Morales picked a last meal; however, details about the meal, as well as his last words, will be disclosed by the prison's warden after the execution.

Morales is scheduled to be executed Tuesday morning by lethal injection for the 1981 murder of 17-year-old Terri Winchell of Lodi.

Then 21, Morales strangled Winchell with a belt, beat her over the head with a hammer, then pulled her body into a vineyard where he raped her and stabbed her to death.

As part of a federal judge's order, an anesthesiologist will be present in the execution chamber to ensure that Morales is unconscious before his final drugs are administered, according to Jennings.

The anesthesiologist will not be identified and may choose to hide his identity, possibly using a surgical mask, Jennings said. An alternate anesthesiologist will be just outside the chamber.

Jennings said the drug cocktail -- 5 grams of sodium pentothal to stop muscle movement, 50 cc of pancuronium bromide to stop breathing and 50 cc of potassium chloride to stop the heart -- will remain the same during Tuesday's execution.

"This is our protocol,'' Jennings said, adding that her agency believes the lethal injection process is "humane'' and "painless.''

Five of Winchell's family members will be present during the execution. Morales has designated two witnesses, according to Jennings.

__________

Update: Morales Execution Delayed

Feb 21, 2006 1:19 am US/Pacific

(BCN) SAN FRANCISCO The execution of condemned inmate Michael Morales has been delayed for at least one hour while the execution team reviews its roles during the process, according to San Quentin spokesman Vernell Crittendon.

San Quentin State Prison Warden Steven Ornoski wants to go over additional training for some of the new members of the execution team, which includes two anesthesiologists, Crittendon said.

Crittendon announced the delay at 11:30 p.m.

As part of a Federal Judge's recent order an anesthesiologist will be present in the execution chamber to insure Morales is unconscious before the final drugs are administered. An alternate anesthesiologist will be just outside the chamber.

Morales was scheduled to be executed today by lethal injection for the 1981 murder of 17-year-old Terri Winchell of Lodi.

Crittendon said Morales had not been notified of the delay. He said the execution warrant is good for 24 hours.

"There is no need for us to rush into this if the warden is not completely comfortable with the process," he said.

This is not the first execution to experience delays.

(Bay City News)

Morales Execution Delayed

Morales' Execution Draws Criticism From Medical Community
Written for the web by Nicole Chavez, Reporter

A federal appeals judge ordered the state to provide anesthesiologists to monitor the scheduled execution of Michael Morales. Some physicians are calling their involvement unethical.

The two anesthesiologists will make sure Morales is fully unconscious before receiving the second and third injections in the three-drug cocktail that constitutes lethal injection. It will be the first time a physician directly assists in California's execution chamber. Until now, only trained prison workers administered lethal injections in California, not medical personnel.

The California Medical Association as well as the American Medical Association calls the action unethical and immoral. Dr. Jack Lewin of the CMA says, "We do not believe it's ethical for doctors to participate in executions. This is not our business. We're not here to terminate people's lives."

Former AMA President Dr. Lonnie Bristow argues that assisted executions violate a code of ethics that doctors serve to heal, not to kill. "It's like bringing a priest to do the execution."

U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel ordered the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to comply with one of two options to minimize any pain or suffering for Morales during the lethal injection procedure. One option was to administer only the sedative sodium thiopental. The five milligram dosage is lethal by itself, but could prolong the execution by 40 to 45 minutes.

The state choose to comply with the second option of having two board-certified, private practice anesthesiologists present. One will serve as the primary doctor with the other as a back-up. The anesthesiologist will monitor whether Morales is rendered unconscious by the sodium thiopental before lethal doses pancouronium bromide and potassium chloride, respectively, are administered.

The three-chemical combination generally takes eight to 10 minutes to cause death.

Attorneys for Morales had appealed to stay their client's execution on the argument lethal injection is unconstitutionally cruel and unusual punishment. Fogel made clear he would not block the execution but said evidence from several prior San Quentin executions raised "at least some doubt as to whether protocol actually is functioning as intended."

The anesthesiologists participating in the 12:01 am execution aren't being identified. If they do become known, they could be brought before the medical board for ethical violations.

Deadly Kilowatt

Claim: The governor of Florida asked residents to reduce their electrical usage during Ted Bundy's execution.

Status: False.

Origins: This

section of our web site, Inboxer Rebellion, is devoted to categories of items — scams, hoaxes, petitions, charity appeals — that are primarily propagated and disseminated via e-mail. None of these items is unique to e-mail, of course, as they all flourished in the pre-Internet era in different forms: regular mail, photocopies, faxes, bulletin boards postings, etc. (Indeed, way back in the early days of snopes.com, this section was titled 'Faxlore' because fax machines were still the primary means of transmission for most of the material we were writing about.) The recent prolonged power outage throughout much of eastern North America brought to mind a related item which surely would be all over the Internet were it happening today, a hoax based on events very much in the news back in 1986.

In February 1986, after a four-year killing spree (during which he murdered at least fourteen women and likely killed dozens more), two jail escapes, multiple trials, two death Reddy Kilowatt

sentences, and seven years of appeals, Ted Bundy was awaiting execution in a Florida prison. On 5 February 1986, Florida governor Bob Graham signed a death warrant setting a March 4 date for Bundy's execution by electric chair. As the country buzzed with the news that America's notorious "homicidal maniac" was about to receive his final punishment, a hoaxster went to work behind the scenes and reflected public sentiment through a sardonic joke. After crafting a two-page letter which looked like an official communique from the Office of the Governor at the Florida state capital in Tallahassee, the unknown prankster sent his handiwork to a variety of newspapers throughout the U.S., leading a number of newsmen to shake their heads at the apparent announcement that Governor Graham was calling upon Florida residents to reduce their usage of electricity on the date of Ted Bundy's execution in order to ensure that the convicted criminal would be "executed using the maximum voltage and amperage allowed" — and that a special souvenir medallion of the event would be offered for sale!

The bogus letter read, in part:

Florida Gov. Bob Graham today signed a cooperative agreement with the Tennessee Valley Authority for more electricity to be used in the coming execution of convicted killer Theodore Bundy. The power sales contract with TVA will provide ten additional megawatts of energy to Florida Power & Light in order to ensure Bundy is executed using the maximum voltage and amperage allowed.

In addition to the temporary contract for electricity, Graham urged Florida residents to reduce their electrical usage for a five-minute period beginning at 6:57 A.M. EST March 4, 1986. Bundy is scheduled to be executed at 7:00 A.M. on that date.

If citizens of the state can turn off all non-vital air conditioning, televisions, electric dryers and washers during that brief period, we could have as much as five additional megawatts to pump into the chair.

Reddy Communications of Akron, Ohio — owners of the popular Reddy Kilowatt logo — will prepare a special gold medallion for the event with the inscription, 'Die Quicker Electrically.' The medallions will be on sale, [and the] proceeds will help defray the tremendous costs associated with Bundy's prosecution, incarceration, and ultimate execution.

The execution scheduled for 4 March 1986 did not take place as planned. More delays and appeals postponed Ted Bundy's date with the electric chair for another three years, and the macabre hoax was long forgotten by the time Bundy was finally strapped into "Old Sparky" and electrocuted on 24 January 1989.

Last updated: 17 August 2003

The URL for this page is http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/hoaxes/tedbundy.asp
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Sources:

Rule, Ann. The Stranger Beside Me.: New York: W.W. Norton, 2000. ISBN 0-393-05029-7 (pp. 395-396).

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