Ohio lethal injection takes 2 hours, 10 tries

This is so bad!!!!!!!

A man in Ohio under death penalty had to wait 2 hours while the the execution team tried 10 times to find a suitable vein to inject the quimicals to kill him.

The execution team stuck Christopher Newton at least 10 times with needles Thursday to insert the shunts where the chemicals are injected.

He died at 11:53 a.m., nearly two hours after the scheduled start of his execution at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility. The process typically takes about 20 minutes.

www.cnn.com...

Incredible!!!!!!!!!

And sick.

Because this now the anti death penalty crowd wants the process to be halt.

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[edit on 25/5/2007 by Mirthful Me]

Yeah, this is pretty bad...

You'd think that since it's happened before, they would stop and say, wait, this guy is pretty big, lets get the dosage right and make sure it goes quickly and quietly...

Why don't they just go back to the good old fashioned firing squad?

That always works

I'm not seeing the problem...

Officials said the delay was due to Newton's size -- he weighed 265 pounds. In May 2006, the execution of Joseph Lewis Clark was delayed about 90 minutes because the team could not find a suitable vein. He was a longtime intravenous drug user.

...

But Newton, who had had insisted on the death penalty as punishment and made no attempt to appeal, chatted and laughed with prison staff throughout the delay. It took so long that the staff paused to allow Newton a bathroom break.

www.cnn.com...

If he had a medical emergency (say a heart attack, or an anaphylactic reaction), there would have been just as much trouble getting vascular access, as there was to facilitate the execution.

I also disagree with the assessment that the execution was "botched." He's dead isn't he? Sounds like the job got done... If it was botched, he'd still be alive... Right?

Executioner Monkeys, not just for hanging them high anymore...

Originally posted by djohnsto77
Why don't they just go back to the good old fashioned firing squad?

That always works

But . . . firing squat is for military purposes

Hanging . . . well we all know how bad memories of another time in our history this will bring.

So is either lethal injection or gas, but do we still have the electric chair?

The team that was doing the injection was either ill prepared of the execution or they didn't know what they were doing.

And the death row man even had a bathroom brake!!!!!!!!!!

Incredible.

Sorry mirthful I keep forgetting about the tags.


[edit on 25-5-2007 by marg6043]

Originally posted by marg6043
Incredible!!!!!!!!!

And sick.

Whats incredible or sick about it?

Back when I was in paramedic class we used to practice on each other all the time. It was nothing to come home with at least half a dozen holes in my arms and hands.

Originally posted by Skibum

It was nothing to come home with at least half a dozen holes in my arms and hands.

And when I was a military wife I allowed new nurses to do the blood work, occurs I was always told that I could have either a new nurse of an experienced one.

But at least I new that I was not going to die

That man actually die 10 times with a bathroom brake in between.

Originally posted by marg6043
The team that was doing the injection was either ill prepared of the execution or they didn't know what they were doing.

There are people out there that even seasoned pros would have trouble establishing a line on. The guy was fat and an IV drug user, both make a difference in how easy it is to find a decent vein.

He was put to death for beating and choking cell mate Jason Brewer, 27, in 2001 after they argued during a chess game. He had slammed Brewer's head onto the floor, stomped his throat and cut a piece from his orange prison suit to strangle him.

According to the source provided, Newton had no complaints about receiving a death sentence, nor did he wail or complain during his somewhat prolonged pre-execution experience.

Several attempts to inject a needle doesn't seem overly painful or distressing, particularly as it was a punishment and death with which Newton agreed and when compared with the death suffered by his victim.

In a world with a population approaching seven billion (which in turn is killing the planet) the anti-death protesters should perhaps get the situation in clearer perspective. Tens of thousands of innocent, blameless people die every day, virtually unnoticed and unmourned by those who protest about the death of a killer who was content to die.

I hope Newton is at peace now and salute the humor with which he attempted to alleviate the distress of his official executioners.

Not sure the big issue IMHO

Finding veins on small sick kids is a challange as well that I face almost every day I work. Its not uneard of to have to stick a child several times to get a suitable IV in for threapy etc.

This guy's veins were so bad that they kept blowing (medspeak for leaking) and others had to be tried. In an emergency they could have used an Inter Osseous catheter. It involves punching a special needle designed to take bone marrow samples into the leg bone just below the knee. Once in you can infuse fluid through it. however, this was not an emergency and they could take thier tiem to get it right.

Originally posted by marg6043

That man actually die 10 times with a bathroom brake in between.

Huh, no. They had to stick him with a needle 10 times before they were able to find a decent vein. BIG difference.

Originally posted by FredT
In an emergency they could have used an Inter Osseous catheter. It involves punching a special needle designed to take bone marrow samples into the leg bone just below the knee. Once in you can infuse fluid through it. however, this was not an emergency and they could take thier tiem to get it right.

I was thinking about mentioning that, I've got a few IO needles in my bag.
Now if they had resorted to going IO, you might have been able to make a case for torture.

Well I ain't gonna drag out my opposition to capital punishment again, mainly because this situation does very little (IMO) to support my view.

The guy wanted to die. The state wanted him executed. He wasn't in screaming agony. He was joking around about how he wanted some beef stew and a chicken bone (?!!!?).

What everyone wanted to happen, happened. If anything, I feel sorry for the poor schlubs who had to work 10 hours to whack the guy. But it's probably @ time and a half, so it's all good.

I wonder what he would've done with the chicken bone?

How can a person be happy to die, perhaps he had some mental issues.

I am one of those persons that finding a vein is a challenge, sometimes I end up with both my arms black and blue with so many tries.

Usually they can find then on my hands, but the first choice is the arm.

Originally posted by Skibum
[I was thinking about mentioning that, I've got a few IO needles in my bag.
Now if they had resorted to going IO, you might have been able to make a case for torture.

Actually with the new I/O drill its pretty easy and well, I have never had anybody awake when I put one in so Im nore sure how bad it feels.

IMHO it would be far simpler to give them an anesthesia gas like isoflorane etc. then aeresolize in the fentanyl to kill the resperitory drive. No need to mess with IV's. No worries about pain for the anti death penalty folks. May take a bit longer........

Why should anyone care how some criminal gets killed? I certainly don't. And frankly I don't care how long it takes as long as the job gets done.

LMAO

Sometimes people are so dramatic about things. I've had times when donating blood that the nurse takes time to find a good vein. They have spent time looking for the vein with the needle still inside. Nothing strange there. In fact, it did not seem that the guy even cared.

Originally posted by FredT

Actually with the new I/O drill its pretty easy and well, I have never had anybody awake when I put one in so Im nore sure how bad it feels.

I've been out of the field for awhile and hadn't heard about those, they look pretty handy. We just had typical bone aspiration needles, and I paid for the ones I had since at the time there weren't enough people trained to use them to justify the hospital putting them in the IV box.

I've only done one on a patient, while they weren't awake, they definitely responded to painful stimulus.

Originally posted by djohnsto77
Why don't they just go back to the good old fashioned firing squad?

That always works

except for the times where the firing squad would intentionally shoot to maim instead of to kill, drawing out the execution to hours instead of fractions of seconds.

That's a heart wrenching story Margo, maybe the disadvantages that contributed to his getting there also helped him to cope once there. So much money is spent on punishing, so little on living wages. A real shame I think, when people are put to death so mechanically. Social and racial biases in court machination, not to mention what wealth can buy. Bureaucracy's pitiless machination, and the final topping of incompetence. It's pathetic.