Tennessee Death Penalty Ruling Could Impact N.C.

September 20, 2007

North Carolina

Tennessee Death Penalty Ruling Could Impact N.C.

WRAL.com

Raleigh - A federal court ruling in a Tennessee death penalty case could add
to the dispute over North Carolina's execution protocol.

U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger ruled Wednesday that Tennessee's lethal
injection procedures are cruel and unusual punishment, delaying an execution
planned for next week.

The new protocol, released in April, "presents a substantial risk of
unnecessary pain" and violates death-row inmate Edward Jerome Harbison's
constitutional protections under the Eighth Amendment, Trauger said. The
protocol doesn't ensure that inmates are properly anesthetized before the
lethal injection is administered, which could "result in a terrifying,
excruciating death," she said.

Harbison was scheduled to be executed Sept. 26 for beating an elderly woman
to death during a burglary in 1983.

Tennessee uses the same cocktail of drugs in executions as North Carolina:
sodium pentathol is used to render the inmate unconscious. Pavulon then
paralyzes the body, and potassium chloride kills the inmate by stopping the
heart.

North Carolina Senior Administrative Law Judge Fred Morrison Jr. last month
ordered state officials to review the execution protocol, saying lawyers for
inmates weren't allowed to provide input and ask questions about whether the
procedures adequately protected inmates against cruel and unusual
punishment.

"I noticed it's the same thing we're dealing with in North Carolina,"
Morrison said of the Tennessee ruling. "I didn't think it verified or
ensured that the person is unconscious before they poison him or put him to
death."

North Carolina's death penalty has been on hold since January, when the
state Medical Board adopted a policy that threatened disciplinary action
against any physician who participated in an execution.

A judge ruled that the policy conflicted with state law requiring the
presence of a physician at executions, and he said the Council of State
would have to resolve the matter. The Council of State, a group of nine
elected officials, including Gov. Mike Easley, then revised the execution
protocol and increased the role of physicians in executions.

The Council of State is expected to take another look at the protocol next
month. Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry, who sits on the council, said she
wants the dispute resolved soon so executions can resume.

"If we're going to have the death penalty, (these rulings require) that we
do it the right way. If not, I'm not sure the courts are going to let
anybody be executed," Morrison said.

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Source : WRAL.com

http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/1842238/