I know of one
Posted on 02/21/2006 6:10:14 PM PST by NormsRevenge
Edited on 02/21/2006 6:29:21 PM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]
SAN FRANCISCO - The state on Tuesday postponed indefinitely the execution of a condemned killer amid a court battle over the state's method of lethal injection and the role doctors may play in the death chamber.
State officials notified the federal courts they would be unable to comply with a judge's order to have a medical profesional administer a lethal dose of barbiturate to Michael Morales in the execution chamber, a court spokeswoman told The Associated Press.
It was unclear when the execution would be carried out. Prison officials were not immediately available for comment.
Morales, 46, was supposed to die by lethal injection at 12:01 a.m. But the execution was put off until at least Tuesday night after the anesthesiologists objected that they might have to advise the executioner if the inmate woke up or appeared to suffer pain.
"Any such intervention would clearly be medically unethical," the doctors, whose identities were not released, said in a statement. "As a result, we have withdrawn from participation in this current process."
The doctors had been brought in by a federal judge after Morales' attorneys argued that the three-part lethal injection process violates the Eighth Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. The attorneys said a prisoner could feel excruciating pain from the last two chemicals if he were not fully sedated.
U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel gave prison officials a choice last week: bring in doctors to ensure Morales was properly anesthetized, or skip the usual paralyzing and heart-stopping drugs and execute him with an overdose of a sedative.
Prison officials had planned to press forward with the execution Tuesday night using the second option. The judge approved that decision, but said the sedative must be administered in the execution chamber by a person who is licensed by the state to inject medications intravenously. That group would include doctors, nurses and other medical technicians.
Morales' lawyers planned to appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, but the state notified the court late Tuesday afternoon that it did not intend to go forward with the execution.
The judge's ruling renewed an ethical debate that has persisted for many years about the proper role of doctors in executions and the suitability of the lethal injection method used in California and 35 other states.
The American Medical Association, the American Society of Anesthesiologists and the California Medical Association all opposed the anesthesiologists' participation as unethical and unprofessional.
The anesthesiologists ultimately withdrew after the judge wrote that they might have to demand that the executioner administer more sedatives through a separate intravenous line to make sure the prisoner is unconscious.
The anesthesiologists would have joined another doctor who is on duty at all California executions to declare the prisoner dead and ensure proper medical procedures are followed. The doctor does not insert any of the intravenous lines and is not in the room during the execution itself; typically the doctor watches the inmate's vital signs on electronic monitors outside the death chamber.
Deborah Denno, a Fordham University law professor and expert on lethal injection, said Fogel's order seemed "like a desperate measure."
"These are not circumstances by which somebody ought to be executed," she said. "It's never been done before like this."
The U.S. Supreme Court has never directly addressed the constitutionality of lethal injection or whether it causes inmates excessive pain.
Morales was condemned in 1983 for killing 17-year-old Terri Winchell, who was attacked with a hammer, stabbed and left to die half-naked in a vineyard.
Morales had plotted the killing with a gay cousin who was jealous of Winchell's relationship with another man. The cousin was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
It's amazing how this slime, and his slime lawyers, will fight for his life after he brutally hammered a young woman to death? Maybe it's a good thing though? It may give him more time on this earth to reflect on what went wrong in his life and how his actions were wrong for humanity?????
I wonder how many cold flu vaccines he was pricked with whilst on Death Row?
If this is the end of executions in California it means the Night Stalker and other SOBs like him get to live in comfort for the rest of their lives.
And with a spit in Justice's eye, he steals a march on the Reaper.
This "judge" is twisting the law into a pretzel. This is beyond "activist judges", we are now getting into the area of "1984" where execution means whatever some crackpot judge wants it to mean.
If they were to find a medical professional willing to violate his oath and administer the drugs, I bet the judge would require that the doctor be a seven foot tall left handed midget.
I know of one
They left out raped. On purpose.
They did, "We" didn't.
Thanks for posting that extra little piece that was omitted.
Excellent idea!
The outrageous things that go on in our system of justice are at times mind-numbing.
It is only justice if it is consumated to the full extent of the law and the people's will.
We have witnessed Judicial Tyranny at its worst, imo
You do realize that Kenneth Starr is one of his lawyer's right?
This is absolutely horrid.
The Judge needs to be impeached.
This "stay" is a sham and is in no way justice for anyone involved. The perp was ready, we should have obliged.
I concur. I remain livid about this and my heart just aches for her family.
Damn democrats and their judicial appointments. This is an end around game.
Headline for same ap article on SD U-T
Execution postponed over ethics
---
Ethics?
may the doctors and the judges and lawyers who have permitted this travesty to occur suffer long and hard days ahead.
maybe they should debate whether the perp should have used a post mall instead of a hammer to hit the young girl in the head, before stabbing her in the heart and raping her.
Fogel, Jeremy D.
Born 1949 in San Francisco, CA
Federal Judicial Service:
U. S. District Court, Northern District of California
Nominated by William J. Clinton on September 8, 1997, to a seat vacated by Robert P. Aguilar; Confirmed by the Senate on March 16, 1998, and received commission on March 17, 1998.
Education:
Stanford University, B.A., 1971
Harvard Law School, J.D., 1974
Professional Career:
Private practice, San Jose, CA, 1974-1978
Lecturer, Human Development, California State University, 1977-1978
Law Foundation, Inc., Santa Clara County, CA Bar Association, 1978-1981
Directing attorney, Mental Health Advocacy Project, 1978-1981
Executive director, 1980-1981
Judge, Santa Clara County, CA Municipal Court, 1981-1986
Judge, Santa Clara, CA Superior Court, 1986-1998
Race or Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
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