An Indiana prisoner facing execution by lethal injection later this month has filed a federal lawsuit on the grounds he would suffer unnecessarily during the procedure.
January 2, 2007
Inmate seeks to halt execution
Attorneys for Norman Timberlake, 59, filed the lawsuit Friday in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis. It seeks a preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order stopping Timberlake's scheduled execution. Timberlake is scheduled to die Jan. 19 at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City for the 1993 murder of Master Trooper Michael Greene in Indianapolis.
The suit says the three-drug cocktail commonly used by Indiana isn't calibrated by the inmate's size or medical history, so Timberlake could suffer unnecessarily. Indiana Department of Correction officials "are acting with deliberate indifference to the plaintiff's serious medical needs," the lawsuit argues.
It refers to the decision last month by Florida Gov. Jeb Bush to suspend executions after one death-row inmate took more than 30 minutes to die using a similar mixture of drugs.
The Indiana attorney general's office has not yet responded to the lawsuit, which was the second filed last week by Timberlake. On Wednesday, the other suit asked the federal court to delay the execution on the grounds Timberlake is insane.
 | |
| |
Call Star reporter Jon Murray at (317) 444-2752.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment