BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) B次元官网网址� Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey sought a pause in executions and ordered a B次元官网网址渢op-to-bottomB次元官网网址� review of the stateB次元官网网址檚 capital punishment system Monday after an unprecedented third failed lethal injection.
IveyB次元官网网址檚 office issued a statement saying she had both asked Attorney General Steve Marshall to withdraw motions seeking execution dates for two inmates and requested that the Department of Corrections undertake a full review of the stateB次元官网网址檚 execution process.
Ivey also requested that Marshall not seek additional execution dates for any other death row inmates until the review is complete.
The move followed the uncompleted execution Thursday of Kenneth Eugene Smith, which was the stateB次元官网网址檚 second such instance of being unable to put an inmate to death in the past two months and its third since 2018. The state completed an execution in July, but only after a three-hour delay caused at least partly by the same problem with starting an IV line.
Denying that prison officials or law enforcement are to blame for the problems, Ivey said B次元官网网址渓egal tactics and criminals hijacking the system are at play here.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淔or the sake of the victims and their families, weB次元官网网址檝e got to get this right,B次元官网网址� she said.
Corrections Commissioner John Hamm said the department is fully committed to the review and is B次元官网网址渃onfident that we can get this done right.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淓verything is on the table B次元官网网址� from our legal strategy in dealing with last minute appeals, to how we train and prepare, to the order and timing of events on execution day, to the personnel and equipment involved,B次元官网网址� Hamm said in a statement issued through the governorB次元官网网址檚 office.
Marshall, the stateB次元官网网址檚 top prosecutor, didnB次元官网网址檛 immediately say whether he would agree to IveyB次元官网网址檚 request. The attorney general B次元官网网址渞ead the governorB次元官网网址檚 and commissionerB次元官网网址檚 comments with interestB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址渨ill have more to say on this at a later date,B次元官网网址� said spokesman Mike Lewis.
Alabama Arise, a nonprofit that advocates on behalf of the poor, said Marshall should agree to a moratorium and urged legislators to B次元官网网址渄o their part to reduce the unfairness of AlabamaB次元官网网址檚 death penalty system.B次元官网网址�
The Death Penalty Information Center, an anti-death-penalty group with a large database on executions, said no state other than Alabama has had to halt an execution in progress since 2017, when Ohio halted Alva CampbellB次元官网网址檚 lethal injection because workers couldnB次元官网网址檛 find a vein.
The executive director of the organization, Robert Dunham, said Ivey was right to seek an investigation and a pause, but any review of the system needs to be done by someone other than the stateB次元官网网址檚 prison system. While Ivey blamed defense efforts for execution failures, Dunham said her B次元官网网址渨illful blindnessB次元官网网址� to the prison systemB次元官网网址檚 woes were part of the problem.
B次元官网网址淭he Alabama Department of Corrections has a history of denying and bending the truth about its execution failures, and it cannot be trusted to meaningfully investigate its own incompetence and wrongdoing,B次元官网网址� he said.
Earlier this year, after Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee halted a lethal injection in April because he learned the drugs hadnB次元官网网址檛 been tested as required, he ordered an independent investigation and paused all executions through the end of the year.
AlabamaB次元官网网址檚 execution of Joe Nathan James Jr. took several hours to get underway in July because of problems establishing an IV line, leading anti-death-penalty group Reprieve US Forensic Justice Initiative to claim the execution was botched.
In September, the state called off the scheduled execution of Alan Eugene Miller because of difficulty accessing his veins. Miller said in a court filing that prison staff poked him with needles for more than an hour, and at one point left him hanging vertically on a gurney before announcing they were stopping. Prison officials have maintained the delays were the result of the state carefully following procedures.
Ivey asked the state to withdraw motions seeking execution dates for Miller and James Edward Barber, the only two death row inmates with such requests before the Alabama Supreme Court.
Alabama in 2018 called off the execution of Doyle Hamm because of problems getting the intravenous line connected. Hamm had damaged veins because of lymphoma, hepatitis and past drug use, his lawyer said. Hamm later died in prison of natural causes.
Alabama should have imposed an execution moratorium after HammB次元官网网址檚 failed execution for the benefit of everyone, said Bernard Harcourt, an attorney who represented Hamm for years.
B次元官网网址淎s a political matter, Gov. Ivey mentions only the victims, but these botched executions have been ordeals for the men on the gurney, their families, friends, ministers, and attorneys, and all the men and women working at the prison and involved in these botched attempts. The trauma of these executions extend widely to everyone that they touch,B次元官网网址� Harcourt said.
B次元官网网址斺赌斺赌�
More of APB次元官网网址檚 coverage of executions can be found at https://apnews.com/hub/executions.
By Jay Reeves
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
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