Execution on hold after executioners have trouble with inmate's veins

[Moongirl]

MSNBC.com
Ohio execution on hold after vein troubles
Inmate gets one-week reprieve after problems with lethal injection process
The Associated Press
updated 3:26 p.m. PT, Tues., Sept . 15, 2009

LUCASVILLE, Ohio - Ohio's governor on Tuesday delayed an execution after the prison's execution team had problems finding the condemned inmate's veins during the lethal injection process.

Gov. Ted Strickland ordered a week-long reprieve after executioners struggled for about two hours to locate suitable veins for inserting IVs into 53-year-old Romell Broom.

Broom was sentenced to die for the rape and slaying of a 14-year-old Tryna Middleton in 1984.

No Ohio governor has issued a similar last-minute reprieve since the state resumed executions in 1999.

The team began working on Broom, in a holding cell 17 steps from the execution chamber, at about 2 p.m. They stopped at about 4:30 p.m. Broom attempted to help the team access his veins, and after one failed attempt, he covered his face and appeared to be sobbing.

Broom's lawyer, Tim Sweeney, wrote Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer asking him to end the procedure.

"Any further attempts today to carry out the execution of Mr. Broom would be cruel and unusual punishment in violation of ... the U.S. Constitution," he wrote. "They would also violate Ohio's statutory requirement that a lethal injection execution is to be quick and painless."

Prisons director Terry Collins said he asked Strickland for the reprieve at about 4 p.m., but that the difficulty "absolutely, positively" does not shake his faith in the state's lethal injection procedure.

'Flawed process'
Broom had asked to see his attorney, Adele Shank, as the team struggled, but she was not allowed access to him due to policy that says the inmate cannot have contact with lawyers once the injection process begins. Shank said she was concerned because it appeared Broom winced in pain.

"I think it was obviously a flawed process," said Shank.

A medical evaluation Monday determined that veins in Broom's right arm appeared accessible, while those in his left arm were not as visible.

The scene Tuesday was reminiscent of the problems that delayed executions in 2006 and 2007 and led to changes in Ohio's lethal injection process.

In 2006, the execution of Joseph Clark was delayed for more than an hour after the team failed to properly attach an IV.

Since Clark's execution, the state's execution rules have allowed team members to take as much time as they need to find the best vein for the IVs that carry the three lethal chemicals.


The state also had difficulty finding the veins of inmate Christopher Newton, whose May 2007 execution was delayed nearly two hours.

In that case, the state said the delay was caused by team members taking their time as opposed to an unforeseen problem.

Ohio has executed 32 men since Wilford Berry in 1999, an execution slightly delayed also because of problems finding a vein.



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[yoyoma]

Why is this news? They should just wack him on the head with a steel bat, job well done...

[Aella]

An incompetent nurse once had trouble finding a vein on me, and basically kept poking me for about half an hour. It wasn't fun, but I find it ironic that while preparing to kill someone, the discomfort of a needle is suddenly deemed too cruel.

[twitchy2.0]

I don't think it's the needle as much as the mental aspects. He was prepared to die and now has to face that again.

[MrsDark]

How's about a central line folks?

[Beeyotch]

Originally Posted by Aella

An incompetent nurse once had trouble finding a vein on me, and basically kept poking me for about half an hour. It wasn't fun, but I find it ironic that while preparing to kill someone, the discomfort of a needle is suddenly deemed too cruel.

I think so too. Plus I wouldn't be all that concerned about "quick and painless" when the little girl he raped and killed wasn't afforded that privilege. POS.

[Aella]

Originally Posted by Beeyotch

I think so too. Plus I wouldn't be all that concerned about "quick and painless" when the little girl he raped and killed wasn't afforded that privilege. POS.

Heh, it's funny how we agree on the double standard while coming from completely opposite perspectives on the death penalty.

[emkat]

Any doctor with any training whatsoever could start an IV in a jugular in about a minute. Why didn't they do that?

[Brookie]

The medical industry is ponderous, at best.

I have had a couple of cats put to sleep (old age), and each time, the vet swabs the area with alcohol to clean it prior to giving the shot. Are you worried about the cat getting an infection while you're lethally injecting it? Why are we so worried about the discomfort of a guilty felon?

[L1049]

Originally Posted by Aella

An incompetent nurse once had trouble finding a vein on me, and basically kept poking me for about half an hour. It wasn't fun, but I find it ironic that while preparing to kill someone, the discomfort of a needle is suddenly deemed too cruel.

I just got back from the dentist after a consult on my wisdom teeth surgery and the dentist had a bitch of a time finding a vein. I'm going to have to get the IV through my hand and my veins are small to where I'm going to need a kids catheter.
I don't feel so bad though. My grandfather, my aunt, and my cousin are all the same way.

[MohandasKGanja]

Because of all the running I do, you could execute me in a hot minute. My veins are pretty out there.

The toughest thing seems to be finding veins on an infant or toddler. Once we had our daughter (about two at the time) in the emergency room, and they took about 10 minutes trying to find a vein on her. They even held a flashlight up to the other side of her hand to see if they could spot one. It makes me queasy just to remember it.