Slow death raises execution questions

By JEAN HELLER, Times Staff Writer

Published December 15, 2006

The protracted death of Angel Diaz on Wednesday in Starke has again called into question Florida's methods of executing prisoners. Not since the state adopted lethal injection in 2000 have so many questions been asked about Florida's execution style. Here is a look at some of the history and issues:

How many states use lethal injection as a means of execution?

Of the 38 states that have capital punishment laws, lethal injection is the primary or optional form of execution in 37.

How many prisoners in Florida have been executed by lethal injection since 2000?

Diaz was the 20th. Terry M. Sims, 58, became the first inmate executed by lethal injection in Florida. He was executed Feb. 23, 2000, for the 1977 slaying of a volunteer deputy sheriff in a Central Florida robbery. The next day, Anthony Bryan, 40, died from lethal injection for the 1983 slaying of a night watchman, who was abducted in Mississippi and killed in Florida.

What is the three-drug cocktail used to put a prisoner to death by lethal injection?

Sodium thiopental, a sedative also known as Sodium Pentothal that quickly causes loss of consciousness; pancuronium bromide, used to paralyze the entire muscle system and stop breathing; and potassium chloride, which induces cardiac arrest. The line by which each drug is delivered intravenously is cleaned with a wash of saline solution after each drug is administered to keep it unclogged.

Has there ever been a case before where a condemned prisoner had to be given more than one dose of this cocktail?

The state Department of Corrections said it has happened before but would give no details.

What exactly went wrong in the Diaz execution?

That is unanswered so far. Department of Corrections officials say that Diaz's liver disease could have decreased the efficacy of the drugs. Experts said an air bubble in the delivery line might have blocked the drugs or the vein into which the drugs were flowing collapsed. Many inmates with a history of intravenous drug use have weak veins.

If Diaz had liver problems that could have caused the first dose of poison to fail, weren't there ways the Department of Corrections could have compensated for that?

DOC protocol states that if the dosage of drugs given is not effective, give more. That protocol was followed. Why it took Diaz three to four times longer to die than those executed in the past is not known yet.

Is there any way to know for sure whether this method of execution is painful, or whether some of the gestures and movements made by the prisoner were involuntary muscle spasms?

There are strong opinions both ways. Medical experts say the condemned individual is probably unaware of discomfort if the sodium thiopental is delivered correctly and in doses high enough to cause complete unconsciousness. But if an error is made, the prisoner could experience moderate to severe pain.

When did the idea of lethal injection originate in this country?

In 1888 in New York, when it was suggested that execution by an overdose of morphine would be more humane and deprive the condemned of martyrdom if it replaced hanging. The idea didn't catch on, and it was another 89 years before Oklahoma became the first state to approve lethal injection in 1977.

How many executions by lethal injection are there each year?

There were 60 in the United States last year.