Federal Judge Orders Missouri to Stop All Executions

A federal judge in Missouri has ordered a halt to all executions carried out by that state until it changes its lethal-injection procedures.

The current system, U.S. District Judge Fernando J. Gaitan Jr. said in a Monday ruling, creates an unnecessary risk that an inmate could be subjected to “unconstitutional pain and suffering when the lethal-injection drugs are administered.” He gave corrections officials until July 15 to come up with new procedures.

In a related development, a federal judge in Little Rock, Ark., on Monday stayed an execution on grounds that if the condemned inmate “remains or becomes conscious during the execution, he will suffer intense pain that will never be rectified.” Judge Susan Webber Wright postponed the execution until there could be a full hearing on the issue, which could be months away.

The U.S. Supreme Court in May ruled that inmates could challenge lethal-injection procedures. The two rulings this week, said Fordham University law professor Deborah W. Denno, show that “courts are taking this seriously, and there will be more challenges.”

In recent years, lethal injection has become the dominant mode of execution in the U.S. The 38 states that have capital punishment laws, including California, use a three-stage procedure that masks pain during an execution, rather than preventing it.

The first drug administered, the sedative sodium thiopental, is meant to deaden pain; the second, pancuronium bromide, is a paralytic that immobilizes the prisoner; the third agent, potassium chloride, stops the heart.

Sedative dosages at times have been inadequate to anesthetize inmates, according to testimony in cases asserting that lethal-injection procedures violate the 8th Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.

U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel in San Jose has scheduled a two-day hearing in September to review California’s procedure. Earlier this year, Fogel raised questions about the lethal-injection protocol, which prompted the state in February to call off the execution of Michael A. Morales.

In Missouri, the challenge was raised by Michael Taylor, who was sentenced to death for the 1989 murder of a 15-year-old girl. Missouri has executed 66 people by lethal injection, the fourth highest total in the nation.

Gaitan said he was particularly troubled that the doctor -- identified only as John Doe 1 -- who mixes the three-drug cocktail used in Missouri executions is dyslexic and admitted during a hearing that he has difficulty reading numbers.

“The court ... is gravely concerned that a physician who is solely responsible for directly mixing the drugs which will be responsible for humanely ending the life of condemned inmates has a condition which causes him confusion with regard to numbers,” Gaitan wrote in his 15-page ruling.

In addition, Gaitan said, Missouri does not have a formal written protocol for how lethal injections are to be administered. John Doe 1, in a recent deposition, said that he had administered only 2.5 grams of the sodium thiopental, rather than the normal 5 grams, in several executions.

Dr. Mark Heath, an assistant professor of clinical anesthesiology at Columbia University in New York who has testified in numerous lethal-injection challenges, testified that he believed Missouri was the only state without a written protocol.

Gaitan said he wanted the Missouri Department of Corrections to require that a board-certified anesthesiologist mix the drugs; institute better monitoring so that adequate anesthetic is given to the inmate; and formulate a contingency plan in the event a problem develops during the execution.

John Fougere, a spokesman for Missouri Atty. Gen. Jay Nixon, said his office would work with corrections officials to comply with Gaitan’s order.

“We want to make sure execution in Missouri is predictable, humane and efficient,” Fougere said.