FLORIDA (USA). COMMISSION RECOMMENDS CHANGES TO LETHAL INJECTION PROCESS

March 1, 2007: The Florida commission charged with examining the state’s botched execution of Angel Diaz has urged Governor Charlie Crist to consider reviewing the mix of chemicals used to carry out lethal injections in the state.
The 11-member panel questioned the need for Florida’s lethal injection drugs to include pancuronium bromide, which medical experts say has the potential to leave an improperly sedated person in intense agony without the ability to show it to be used during executions.  Though it did not offer suggested replacements for any of the three drugs currently used to carry out lethal injections in Florida (sodium pentothal, pancuronium bromide, and potassium chloride), the commission did note that Governor Crist should see “if more effective substances could or should be substituted.”
The commission also recommended that “under no circumstances should the executioner continue with the second and third lethal substance without the warden’s authorization.”
The panel’s 11 page report included a call for increased training for state execution teams and a clear protocol that defines the state’s lethal injection process. It urged prison staff to find a way to ensure that intravenous lines stay in place throughout the lethal injection procedure, and it urged better supervision of executions.
The commission suggested that radio communication between members of the execution team and the warden be established, as well as closed circuit monitoring of the inmate during an execution. The group also urged the addition of a Florida Department of Law Enforcement agent to provide an alternative account from the witness area, and a second agent who could keep a detailed log of the activities of the execution team.
Executions in Florida have been on hold since Diaz’s December 13, 2006, execution, during which he took twice as long as normal to die and required a second dose of lethal chemicals. Witnesses said Diaz seemed to grimace and gasp as the execution dragged on for 34 minutes.
The commission said it was not clear if Diaz was properly sedated when painful drugs were injected into his body, and it is impossible to know whether he felt pain. (Sources: Associated Press, March 1, 2007)