Death penalty opponents have condemned a spate of executions in the U.S. this week, including one that was called off after officials spent an hour trying to set up an IV line for the inmate’s lethal injection.
Reprieve U.S. said three of the four executions scheduled over a two-day stretch this week were “botched.”
Murray Hooper was executed in Arizona on Wednesday, with media witnesses reporting that officials struggled to insert IV lines for 25 minutes and eventually had to insert one in his right leg by cutting into his femoral artery.
Later on Wednesday, Stephen Barbee was put to death in Texas. It took more than 90 minutes to execute Barbee, who was disabled, because prison officials had difficulty finding a usable vein in his body, The Texas Tribune reported.
Barbee’s attorney Richard Ellis told Newsweek he was “saddened that Stephen’s physical disabilities, about which we warned [Texas Department of Criminal Justice], seem to have played a part in his prolonged execution.”
A day later, Alabama abandoned Kenneth Smith’s execution after officials couldn’t find a suitable vein to inject the lethal drugs before a midnight deadline.
Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner Jon Hamm told journalists that officials had attempted to place IV lines for an hour before concluding that they did not have enough time to execute Smith before the death warrant expired.
Texas took 90 minutes to execute Stephen Barbee because his disability made finding a vein extra difficult.
In Arizona, officials failed to set a line in both Murray Hooper’s arms and resorted to putting a catheter in his femoral artery, near his groin.
— Reprieve (@Reprieve) November 18, 2022
“The recent spate of disastrous lethal injection executions have shown that whatever the drug, whatever the protocol, condemned prisoners often spend their final hours in agonizing pain and distress,” Reprieve U.S. director Maya Foa said in a statement to Newsweek.
“With each gruesome scene in the death chamber, we are witnessing the consequences of persisting with a broken method of execution, in real time.”
Campaigners also noted that Smith’s was the latest in a string of flawed lethal injections in Alabama.
Alan Miller’s scheduled execution was called off in September because of difficulty accessing his veins. In a court filing, Miller said offiicals poked him with needles for almost two hours, and at one point left him hanging vertically on a gurney before announcing they were stopping.
The execution of Joe James Jr. in July took place after a three-hour delay because of issues with establishing an IV line, prompting Reprieve to say that procedure was also botched.
Joe Raedle/Newsmakers/Getty Images
“No matter how many executions its officials catastrophically mishandle, Alabama appears determined to persist with lethal injection,” Foa said.
“Alan Miller, Joe James and Doyle Lee Hamm were all subjected to prolonged suffering, but the state pressed ahead with Kenneth Smith’s execution regardless, using the same broken procedure.
“Being prepared for execution, strapped to a gurney and stabbed again and again with needles as prison officials try and fail to kill you is torture. It is the definition of ‘cruel and unusual punishment’ and even supporters of the death penalty must recognise that it is time for Alabama to think again.”
Alabama has botched another execution attempt. After repeated failed attempts to set an IV line, ADOC has called off the execution of Kenneth Smith. This is the state’s third failed execution since February 2018 and fourth in that period with significant IV problems. @DPInfoCtr https://t.co/xLae2QaG5I
— Robert Dunham (@RDunhamDPIC) November 18, 2022
Alabama “has botched another execution attempt,” Robert Dunham, the executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, tweeted on Friday.
“After repeated failed attempts to set an IV line, ADOC has called off the execution of Kenneth Smith. This is the state’s third failed execution since February 2018 and fourth in that period with significant IV problems.”
Newsweek has contacted prison officials in Arizona, Alabama and Texas for comment.