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| Court Decision Raises Questions about Nevada Executions |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 03/13/2006 |
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A recent U.S. District Court decision that temporarily blocked executions in California could affect Nevada because both states use the same lethal injection procedure - described as cruel and unusual punishment by death penalty foes. The method for both states is to give condemned inmates three injections. The first, sodium thiopental, makes them unconscious; the second, pancuroniam bromide, paralyzes the lungs; and the third, potassium chloride, stops the heart. Variations on the life-ending chemical dosages are used in 35 other states that have made lethal injections their method of execution in capital cases. Assistant Federal Defender Michael Pescetta said the court ruling in the case of condemned California death row inmate Michael Morales will be used to bolster the "unconstitutional cruel and unusual punishment" argument that he has raised in many Nevada execution cases over the years. "We are alleging this in every capital case we have, and now we can point to the California federal court ruling," Pescetta said. "The judge made it clear that the constitutional protections in the California protocol are not adequate." Glen Whorton, head of Nevada's prison system, said he's "waiting to see what goes on over there" in California before deciding whether any change in this state's execution method is needed. "When something is finalized there, we will probably look at ours," he said. "We're just watching the situation to see what goes on. Chief Deputy Attorney General Conrad Hafen said he expects that Nevada death penalty foes will cite the decision in California by U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel. "But it's going to require that a court in Nevada make a specific finding that our procedures in fact constitute cruel and unusual punishment," Hafen said. "And an evidentiary hearing might very well show a contrary conclusion." Fogel's ruling "certainly started us down on a different path to consider this issue," Hafen said. "But at this point that's something happening in California and it doesn't necessarily impact what we're doing in Nevada." Because of Fogel's ruling, California has proposed altering the way drugs are administered in executions. The new plan is to continually drip a sedative into prisoners to make sure they don't become conscious during the process and feel too much pain as they die. Hearings had been set for May 2 to determine whether the state's current method amounts to cruel and unusual punishment. Those hearings will now focus on the new procedure. |
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