12 January 2017 :

Ohio obtains hundreds of vials of lethal drugs. Ohio has obtained hundreds of vials of lethal injection drugs, records show. Inventory logs obtained by The Associated Press through a public records request show the state received supplies 3 times in September and October for the 1st drug used in the process, a sedative called midazolam that's been at the center of several lawsuits over lethal injection. The records show the state obtained supplies twice in September and October for the second drug used in the process and three times in September for the 3rd drug. The state has said the drugs it plans to use on the first 3 executions this year are standard drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration, though it won't say where they came from. Attorneys have been unable to identify the suppliers or producers because of the 2015 law and because recent federal court rulings bar them from obtaining the information through usual evidence channels. The logs show the state could conceivably carry out dozens of executions with these supplies. What's unclear is the drugs' expiration dates - information not provided on the logs - which could control whether they're available for future executions. JoEllen Smith, a spokeswoman for the Ohio prisons agency, declined to comment. The state plans to execute Ronald Phillips on Feb. 15 for the 1993 rape and murder of his girlfriend's 3-year-old daughter. 7 other executions are also scheduled this year. The logs obtained by the AP show: -- The Department of Rehabilitation and Correction received 750 vials of midazolam on Sept. 9; 750 vials again on Oct. 3; and 100 vials on Oct. 27. That could be enough for as many as 40 executions. -- The state received 150 vials of rocuronium bromide, a paralytic drug and the 2nd drug administered, on Sept. 9; and 80 vials of the drug on Sept. 30. 10 of those vials would be enough for 1 execution. -- The state received 12 vials of potassium chloride, a drug that stops the heart and the last drug administered, on Sept. 9; 12 vials on Sept. 23; and 150 vials on Sept. 30. That could be enough for dozens of executions. A trial challenging the state's execution method was wrapping up Monday in federal court in Dayton. Testifying for the state last week, a member of the execution team that put McGuire to death said he was puzzled by McGuire's reaction and "was wondering what was going on." Another execution team member testified he didn't believe McGuire suffered.