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Woman sues US prison over son's 86-minute execution
AFP

Posted on 07/03/2007 8:23:23 AM PDT by Krista33

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The mother of a US man whose 2006 execution took 86 minutes and involved sticking needles into him 19 times has sued the prison team which oversaw the execution for civil rights violations.

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On Monday Irma Clark filed suit in the Cincinnati, Ohio, district court, alleging her son Joseph Clark was exposed to "excessive suffering" violating the US constitution when he was put to death on May 2, 2006, at a state prison in Lucasville, Ohio, according to court documents.

The suit claims that two prison administrators and 12 members of the execution team ignored the fact that Clark, who had been sentenced to death for a 1984 murder, had long been an intravenous drug user making it difficult to carry out the execution by lethal injection.

The filing said it took the execution team 25 minutes on their first attempt to place shunts in Clark's arms to inject the three drugs used in the execution, because of heavy scar tissue on his arms from drug use.

"The first execution attempt failed, probably due to a collapsed vein," the complaint read. "The execution team discovered the problem when Mr Clark lifted his head from the gurney and repeatedly stated, 'It don't work.'"

Clark also asked if there was some other way they could put him to death, according to the suit.

In a second try, it took the team another half-hour to find a usable vein, and as they did, "witnesses could hear Mr Clark's groans from behind the curtain."

After Clark was finally pronounced dead, 86 minutes after the process began, an autopsy showed 19 needle puncture wounds from the process.

The suit alleges the team did not follow procedures and was negligent in handling the execution.

"As a result of defendants' deliberate indifference to the substantial risk of a problematic execution, Mr Clark needlessly suffered humiliation, pain and suffering, and emotional stress," it said.

The suit asks for 150,000 dollars in damages.

Several US states have recently halted executions due to problems with the lethal injection method.


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: execution; lawsuit
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To: Krista33
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
61 posted on 07/03/2007 10:18:48 AM PDT by Sue Perkick (And I hope that what I’ve done here today doesn’t force you to have a negative opinion of me….)
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To: Sue Perkick

My dog snagged a bird in the back yard yesterday. I used a brick because the fool dog did not finish the job. A brick works fine. Perhaps they should use a brick.


62 posted on 07/03/2007 10:26:34 AM PDT by Vermont Lt (I am not from Vermont. I lived there for four years and that was enough.)
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To: Weeedley
Screw needles and electricity.

I’m all for adopting to the guillotine.

Fast, sure and best of all, cheap.

63 posted on 07/03/2007 10:31:22 AM PDT by Dr.Zoidberg (Mohammedanism - Bringing you only the best of the 6th century for fourteen hundred years.)
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To: Dr.Zoidberg
On the other hand:

A public hanging has all the cachet one desires for these types of events...

The guillotine is just to frenchified for our tastes.

64 posted on 07/03/2007 10:47:33 AM PDT by Weeedley
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To: backhoe
We have had to put four of our dogs down over the years - it never gets any easier, does it?

Carolyn

65 posted on 07/03/2007 10:50:30 AM PDT by CDHart ("It's too late to work within the system and too early to shoot the b@#$%^&s."--Claire Wolfe)
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To: Weeedley

A bullet in the back of the head is faster, cleaner, and cheaper.


66 posted on 07/03/2007 10:52:22 AM PDT by Little Ray (Rudy Guiliani: If his wives can't trust him, why should we?)
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To: Weeedley
Hanging works quite well and I would be all for it, but it depends too much on the skill of the hangsman to get the job done right.

Set the noose wrong you can either strangle the subject or pop his head right off.

True enough, dead is dead, but when you expect a simple drop and pop then a head comes flying into the witnesses. It could cause a bad day for everyone not just the hanged man.

A guillotine is fairly foolproof. Drop, chop, basket, cheer. Next.

67 posted on 07/03/2007 10:54:02 AM PDT by Dr.Zoidberg (Mohammedanism - Bringing you only the best of the 6th century for fourteen hundred years.)
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To: Dr.Zoidberg

You win the discussion by dint of the grim details...!


68 posted on 07/03/2007 10:57:03 AM PDT by Weeedley
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To: Weeedley
I’m sorry. =-(
69 posted on 07/03/2007 11:27:01 AM PDT by Dr.Zoidberg (Mohammedanism - Bringing you only the best of the 6th century for fourteen hundred years.)
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To: Weeedley
Old Sparky, though throwing the switch would give me great personal satisfaction, is a torture device and was rightly eliminated.

Likewise the slow suffocation of the "gas chamber".

If we cannot dispatch murderers and rapists quickly (with a long drop hanging or, preferably, the guillotine), capital punishment is not going to have a future.

70 posted on 07/03/2007 11:30:12 AM PDT by Jim Noble (Trails of troubles, roads of battle, paths of victory we shall walk.)
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To: Krista33

Roll on two.


71 posted on 07/03/2007 11:32:08 AM PDT by BigCinBigD (You "abort" bad missile launches and carrier landings. Not babies.)
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To: CDHart

“We have had to put four of our dogs down over the years - it never gets any easier, does it?”

We had her 14 years- never had an animal for that long, before.

Calpernia was kind enough to start a post on it here:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/1777582/posts

I’d have taken that needle myself, if that would have restored her to what she had been before the strokes got to her.

Got a puppy, three days later, because we couldn’t stand the silence ( also on the post ) and it’s like having a bolt of lightning in the house- it sure isn’t quiet, any more!

Kind regards to you.


72 posted on 07/03/2007 1:29:28 PM PDT by backhoe (-30-)
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To: Krista33

Hey, mom. How much suffering did your son’s victims experience?


73 posted on 07/03/2007 1:35:12 PM PDT by MEGoody (Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.)
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To: Krista33

Only in America can a person sue someone because they can’t do their job properly because you are a junkie!


74 posted on 07/03/2007 1:39:00 PM PDT by beckysueb (Pray for our troops , America, and President Bush)
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To: Krista33
Poor Baby! I wonder if the person whose life he took suffered more than 86 minutes or the pain of 19 needle holes.

And it cost us ~$40k a year x 22 years = almost $900k to keep this guy alive so we could serve him the death sentence? Then pay Mommy some money because he 'suffered'? I don't think so.

75 posted on 07/03/2007 1:54:51 PM PDT by Chili Girl
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To: Krista33
Sounds like their personnel are a bit rusty. Perhaps Ohio should outsource their their executions to Texas.
76 posted on 07/03/2007 5:49:48 PM PDT by Paleo Conservative
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To: backhoe

Sad too hear.

I am glad you have a new rocket in the house.

JJ


77 posted on 07/03/2007 5:58:45 PM PDT by Jet Jaguar
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To: dfwgator
Thanks for the update. I’d have hated to see hood water wasted on a condemned prisoner/ I would think that some “might” be innocent. To preclude that, I suggest that all condemned be required to take a mandatory lie detector test / sodium pentathal to see if the are guilty. (No 5th Amendment there as they have already been convicted) If they pass the test and indicate possible innocence, there should be an investigation into the actual guilt (No more Nifongs). If guilty, they get the KFC treatment.
78 posted on 07/03/2007 8:14:01 PM PDT by Mumbles
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To: Jet Jaguar
Let me show you the rocket in action ( from Free Dominion )


-Waterdog!--

If I had that much energy, I'd rule the world...

79 posted on 07/04/2007 4:22:18 AM PDT by backhoe (-30-)
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To: backhoe

LOL! Thanks for the link!


80 posted on 07/04/2007 6:56:41 AM PDT by Jet Jaguar
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