Chamblee54

The execution of Warren Hill has been postponed. The fishwrapper reports “Corrections Commissioner Brian Owens on Tuesday said the state will begin using only one lethal injection drug — the sedative pentobarbital — instead of three. … “The department has been using pentobarbital in its execution process and based upon the experience of other states and compentent medical testimony the drug has proven to be effective,” said a statement released by the Department of Corrections. “The department is committed to carrying out the order of the court in the most responsible and professional manner possible.”
On March 11, 2011, Ohio tried something new. ” Ohio executed an inmate Thursday with a single drug previously used to euthanize animals, the first execution of its kind in the United States and a potentially pivotal development in the nation’s emotional battle over capital punishment. Johnnie Baston, 37, was pronounced dead at 10:30 a.m. at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville after receiving an infusion of the powerful barbituate pentobarbital, officials said. Baston was sentenced to death for the 1994 killing of Chong Mah, 53, a Toledo store owner. ”
The Associated Press wrote a report, Ga. Switching to Single-Drug Method for Executions. It is available all over the internet. “Georgia began using pentobarbital as part of its three-drug combination last year after another drug, sodium thiopental, became unavailable when its European supplier bowed to pressure from death penalty opponents and stopped making it. But pentobarbital is now in short supply after its manufacturer said it would try to prevent its use in executions.
Three other states — Arizona, Idaho and Ohio — have carried out single-drug executions using pentobarbital, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Ohio was the first to use just pentobarbital, during a March 2011 execution. Washington state has used the method with sodium thiopental, the center said. A total of 11 executions have been carried out using pentobarbital alone, said center executive director Richard Dieter. … Missouri has said it plans to use propofol, the anesthetic blamed for Michael Jackson’s death, for single-drug executions.
Pentobarbital is most commonly used to euthanize animals and treat seizures. It wasn’t created to kill people and still is relatively untested for use on humans, said Fordham University law professor Deborah Denno. “The whole reason lethal injection was created was to have a humane method of executing people. Drug selection in the late 1970s had that goal in mind. Now, drugs are chosen out of convenience because they’re the only thing available, not because they’re the humane choice.”
Dr. Howard Nearman, chairman the anesthesiology department at Case Western Reserve University’s medical school, said the change to a one-drug procedure makes sense. The drug takes away respiratory drive and creates blood pressure changes that cause the heart to give out, he said. “They’re going to rely on the drug that puts you to sleep to actually make life systems stop working,” he said.”
The execution procedure, euphemistically known as lethal injection, began using a three drug cocktail. This is the proctol approved by the US Supreme Court. The procedure involved “a three-drug cocktail that included sodium thiopental to kill pain, pancurium bromide to paralyze the inmate and potassium chloride to stop the heart.” It is not known if there is a shortage of pancurium bromide or potassium chloride.
The use of sodium thiopental was curtailed after the manufacturer refused to allow it’s use in executions. The maker of pentobarbital has similar concerns.
But pentobarbital could eventually become scarce. Most state justice departments say that for security reasons they cannot specify how much of the drug they have stored, but pentobarbital’s manufacturers have in recent months acted on a number of fronts to prevent its use for executions.
Lundbeck Inc., a Danish pharmaceutical company that manufactured the drug until late last year, sent letters last August to governors and correctional departments in 16 states — Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia — saying it did not want its drug used for executions.
When that request was ignored, the company switched from using several distributors last June to using a drop ship program, selling its product directly to health care facilities through a single distributor, Cardinal Health. In addition, every medical facility that received the drugs had to sign a document saying the product would not be used for executions or resold for that purpose. “We stated very clearly that we’re in the business of improving peoples lives and using it for capital punishment is against what we do,” Matt Flesch, spokesman for Lundbeck, told iWatch News.
Finally last December Lundbeck sold its pentobarbital rights to Illinois-based Akorn Inc., which signed an agreement promising it would not sell the drug for the purpose of executions.
Lets review this story. The State of Georgia has delayed an execution. It announced a change in procedure the day before an execution was scheduled to take place. They are changing from a protocol approved by the Supreme Court. They are going to use a deliberate overdose of pentobarbital to kill a prisoner. This act raises questions about the ability of the State of Georgia to administer the death penalty in the proper manner.
The death penalty is strong medicine. Cases are put through a rigorous appeal process. In the case of Warren Hill, this process has lasted 22 years. The question many have about the death penalty is the capability of state government to wisely use this strong medicine. The actions of the State of Georgia yesterday would indicate that the state is not smart enough to use the death penalty.
The motto of the State of Georgia is Wisdom, Justice, Moderation. Taking twenty two years to execute a man is not just. Using a deliberate drug overdose to carry out this execution is neither wise nor moderate.
Pictures today are from ” The Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”

On July 19, at the facility in Jackson GA, the state is scheduled to poison Warren Lee Hill Jr. “The State Board of Pardons and Paroles on Monday denied clemency to a man whose lawyer says is mentally disabled and should not be executed. Warren Lee Hill is set to be put to death by lethal injection on Wednesday at the state prison in Jackson.”
Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens issued a press advisory, Execution Date Set for Warren Lee Hill, Convicted of Ruthless Murder of Fellow Prison Inmate. Here is what it says about the crimes that led to this punishment.
“In August of 1990, Hill and the victim, Joseph Handspike, were both incarcerated for murder at the Lee Correctional Institution (hereinafter Lee C.I.). Hill was serving a life sentence for murdering his 18-year-old girlfriend, Myra Wright, in 1986 by shooting her eleven times.
During Hill’s trial for the Handspike’s murder, a Lee C.I. correctional officer testified that at 5:10 a.m., he heard a loud noise emanating from the inmates’ sleeping quarters in Wing C. Upon entering the wing to investigate, the officer witnessed Hill bludgeoning the victim, who was lying in his bed. The officer quickly returned to his station, called for backup, and opened the security gate to allow other officers to enter and assist. He then returned to the scene and saw that Hill had ceased beating the victim. The officer demanded that Hill surrender his weapon, and Hill complied handing over the board he had used in the beating.
A correctional officer and the other witness testified that the victim was attacked while he was sleeping, and that he was unable to defend himself. Witnesses testified the board used to murder the victim was a “2 x 6 that had been trimmed down to a leg,” and that the board had been a support for a sink in the bathroom of Wing C at the institution. In addition, there was testimony that several nails protruded from one end of the board.
In regards to the victim’s injuries, a correctional officer testified that the victim was badly beaten in the upper body and face. The victim was bleeding profusely from his wounds, several teeth were knocked out and his left eye was detached from the socket. The victim, who was still conscious, attempted to raise himself and speak to the correctional officer; however, he was unable to speak and had blood pouring from his mouth.
Following the attack, the victim was taken to the hospital where an emergency room doctor attempted to save his life for approximately one hour and fifteen minutes. The victim was subsequently pronounced dead from blunt head trauma.”
There is little doubt that Mr. Hill committed the crimes. The issue that many have with the execution is the indications that Mr. Hill is mentally retarded. It seems to break down to how you measure things. From the press advisory :
During the sentencing phase of Hill’s trial, the defense called several mitigation witnesses. Specifically, defense counsel presented testimony from Hill’s family and from a clinical psychologist, Dr. William Dickinson. At trial, Dr. Dickinson testified that Hill was of below normal intelligence and had evidence of organic brain damage. Dr. Dickinson admitted, however, that Hill knew the difference between right and wrong, was capable to stand trial for both murders that he committed, that he has a history of explosive episodes, that Hill told him he had been in fights in prison and that he had the potential to be violent in the future.
Evidence also established that family members prior to trial described Hill as “the leader of the family,” noting that he basically “took over the family” and the care of the family from his father at an early age. Hill’s siblings, who were by then adults, related that he “had been their father figure” and depended on him to provide them with food, clothing, and “paternal guidance.” Both his siblings and his mother looked to Hill as the “man of the house.” A high school friend, who at the time of trial was working as an electrical engineer for Scientific Atlanta designing telecommunication systems, described Hill as “bright,” “sharp,” “mature” and “level-headed.” Evidence also showed that, following the completion of high school, Hill entered the Navy where he rose to the rank of Seaman Second Class.
While incarcerated for the murder of his girlfriend, Petitioner was evaluated for prison and it was determined that he was of average intelligence or better, and that, “inmate Hill’s intelligence level (could) support skilled and semi-skilled training and an average degree of work status and responsibility.” Hill was then transferred to Lee C. I. in August of 1989.
On November 22, 2011, The US Court of Appeals decided not to help Mr. Hill. The opinion notes that at the trial, and the first appeal, that no assertion of mental retardation was made. On page 14 of the opinion, footnote seven discusses several tests given to Mr. Hill. These tests estimate his I.Q. as being between 69 and 77.
Huffington Post contributes this: “A U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2002 forbids imposing capital punishment on the “mentally retarded.” The ruling in Atkins v. Virginia left it up to states to define that group of people. Georgia was the first state to outlaw the death penalty for people with mental retardation in 1988, but the state’s legal code says a defendant must prove retardation beyond a reasonable doubt. No other state sets such a heavy burden of proof, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. A state judge held that Hill’s lawyers had proved his mental retardation by a preponderance of the evidence, which is a lower threshold. The Georgia Supreme Court overturned that finding in 2003, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit ruled against Hill in November 2011. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to take his case.”
Peach Pundit posted an editorial from the “Courier Herald”, which says: “Nephew and family spokesperson Richard Handspike has written a detailed affidavit on behalf of his family noting that at no time was his family asked for victim impact statements or even informed of Hill’s trial proceedings. He notes that the family does “not want Mr. Hill to be executed, and we believe a sentence of life without the possibility of parole is an appropriate and just resolution for this case and for us as the family of Joseph Handspike.” Richard Handspike included details that he was not a distant relative, and was in fact close to the victim. He also was the family member that was called to the prison to identify his Uncle’s body. He is not a contrived prop being trotted out by a desperate defense team.”
UPDATE The execution was delayed until Monday, July 23. The State of Georgia will use an overdose of Pentobarbital to kill Mr. Hill. UPDATE TWO The State Supreme Court issued a stay of execution  Monday. This stay concerns the change from a three drug protocol, to a one drug deliberate overdose. UPDATE THREE The Georgia Supreme Court has given a green light for the execution of Mr. Hill. UPDATE FOUR The execution is now scheduled for July 15, 2013. Vintage pictures are from The Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library. The image of GDC ID: 0000422090 is from The Georgia Department of Corrections. UPDATE FIVE Warren Hill died Tuesday January 27, 2015, at 7:55 pm.