Ohio Man to Get 1 Drug, Slower Execution

[LuvNewcastle]

http://www.wlox.com/Global/story.asp?S=11629672

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Condemned killer Kenneth Biros could become the first person in the country put to death with a single dose of an intravenous anesthetic instead of the usual - and faster-acting - three-drug process if his execution proceeds Tuesday.

The execution could propel other states to eventually consider the switch, which proponents say ends arguments over unnecessary suffering during injection. California and Tennessee previously considered then rejected the one-drug approach.

Though the untested method has never been used on an inmate in the United States, one difference is clear: Biros will likely die more slowly than inmates put to death with the three-drug method, which includes a drug that stops the heart.

Lethal injection experts on both sides of the debate over injection say thiopental sodium, which kills by putting people so deeply asleep they stop breathing, will take longer.

How much longer is unclear: Mark Dershwitz, an anesthesiologist who advised Ohio on its switch to the single drug, has written death should occur in under 15 minutes.

Ohio inmates have typically taken about seven minutes to die after the three-drug IV injection, which combines thiopental sodium with the drugs pancuronium bromide - which paralyzes muscles - and potassium chloride, which causes cardiac arrest. Dershwitz also said in a court filing last week that a single dose of thiopental sodium would take longer than the three drugs, though he didn't specify a time.

The switch from three drugs to one was ordered last month because of the state's botched attempt on Sept. 15 to execute convicted rapist and killer Romell Broom. His executioners tried unsuccessfully for two hours to find a usable vein for injection, painfully hitting bone and muscle in as many as 18 needle sticks. Gov. Ted Strickland halted the execution.

Broom, 53, has appealed the state's attempt to try again.

[tekisui]

1. God, why can't we end this.

Every execution, no matter the method, is cruel and unusual punishment.

[The Midway Rebel]

2. +1 Barbaric!

...and racist as applied by the American justice system.

[LuvNewcastle]

4. It's all about vengeance in our society.

Capital punishment certainly isn't cost-effective, nor is it a deterrent; and in a lot of instances it's just plain racist. And sometimes innocent people wind up on death row.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

11. Because this is America and were TOUGH!...FUCK YEAH! WOO-HOO!

and I think the bible says it is cool and some shit

[flvegan]

3. "die more slowly" Really. Is that what we've been reduced to?

The death penalty, instrument of revenge.

[lapfog_1]

5. I have an idea...

Why don't we give the condemned a pain killer, but not much, and one that wears off rapidly.

Then we saw off each extremity in 4 inch increments (up one arm and down the other), giving the condemned as much blood as needed to keep them alive while we slowly hack them to death. We could even sell tickets to people that want to run the saw. TV broadcasts of the entire bloody event.

Once all of the limbs are removed, we them let them roll around on the floor of the execution chamber and poke them with hot irons until they bleed to death.

Yeah, that's the ticket.

:sarcasm:

----

Jesus, what the hell is wrong with people. Kill them more slowly? WTF?

[Deep13]

6. He'll be knocked out right away.

I just got back from a prosecutor's convention in Columbus. The D.A. who tried Biros and obtained a capital sentence explained what he did. Most of the victim was found in one location. Her head, one leg and one breast were found in another spot. He had covered and filled those parts with mud as though he was trying to build something. The torso had been eviscerated and her vagina and anus had been excised. I'm not sure that they found all the pieces. The autopsy revealed she suffered 91 knife wounds while still alive.

So, I'm not going to lose any sleep over an execution that amounts to putting the killer to sleep.

[Deep13]

16. *delete* *wrong place*

[Hippo_Tron]

7. If we're going to do this, just fucking shoot them in the head

Lets stop pretending that executions are pretty.

[petronius]

8. That has always made sense to me. Get rid of the intricate and failure-prone

methods that are intended to give distance from what's really happening - if we're going to execute someone let's not be afraid to get our hands dirty (as a society, metaphorically speaking)...

[Ian David]

10. If you want to abandon pretty in exchange for fast and infallible...

... explosive pulverization of the head is the way to go.

Put the head at the end of a howitzer barrel.

[Duke Newcombe]

13. B, b, but...the anti-DP folks eliminated that kind of "cruel and unusual" punishment!

Aren't we so much better off now? :sarcasm:

[Orsino]

18. But this way, we can pretend that it's not blood we're after. n/t

[Hippo_Tron]

9. Dumb question, why not just use a lethal dose of morphine, isn't that proven to work?

[RaleighNCDUer]

14. In effect, that's exactly what this is. nt

[BlueJazz]

12. Fucking Barbaric. I am SO against the DP for anybody.

.

[Tobin S.]

15. Yep, I live in Ohio and our death penalty is the first thing I would abolish

if I had the power.

[Deep13]

17. The defense bar has been recommending this.

While the three-drug execution was in effect, the defense bar has been arguing it was unconstitutionally cruel. They offered in their arguments that the one-drug alternative is the better method.

[ecstatic]

19. del nt