Saturday 16 December 2006

An ugly (and fitting?) end to the capital year

December 13, 2006

An ugly (and fitting?) end to the capital year

The biggest death penalty story of 2006 has been the ups and downs of all the lethal injection litigation (which the Supreme Court fueled through its work in Hill, as I explain here). Thus, it is perhaps fitting that the final execution of the year, which took place tonight in Florida, apparently involved lethal injection problems. An AP report here provides these details:

Angel Nieves Diaz, who was convicted of murdering a Miami topless bar manager 27 years ago, was executed by lethal injection Wednesday, appearing to grimace before dying 34 minutes after receiving the first dose of chemicals. The manner of his death will likely rekindle the argument that Florida's method of execution constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.

Diaz, 55, was pronounced dead at 6:36 p.m.... He appeared to move for 24 minutes after the first injection. His eyes were open, his mouth opened and closed and his chest rose and fell.

Already all over the story are Capital Defense Weekly and StandDown Texas Project.


Some recent related posts about lethal injection issues:


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