COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio prison officials are increasing the dosage of lethal injection drugs used to put inmates to death, even as an execution in another state prompts an investigation and mercy is recommended for Ohio’s next condemned convict.
The state says it is boosting the amount of the two-drug combo of a sedative and painkiller “to allay any remaining concerns” after the last execution, when an inmate made repeated snorting-like gasps as he died.
The decision came in the wake of the controversial execution of death row inmate Dennis McGuire and a day before a botched execution in Oklahoma prompted the governor of that state to order a full review of its lethal injection procedure.
Oklahoma’s three-drug injection includes midazolam, which causes unconsciousness and which is also one of the two drugs Ohio employs in its lethal injection.
Ohio and other states were forced to come up with new combinations when European manufacturers of pentobarbital banned U.S. prisons from using it in executions. If pentobarbital is unavailable, Ohio prison officials turn to a combination of midazolam and hydromorphone, a painkiller.
The state’s policy change came 30 days before the next scheduled execution on May 28, when a man convicted of killing a Cleveland produce vendor in 1983 is set to die, though the state Parole Board has recommended clemency for Arthur Tyler.
The board voted unanimously Tuesday in favor of clemency for Tyler, whose attorneys argue he is innocent in the 1983 shooting of Sander Leach and voted 6-5 to recommend that Gov. John Kasich release Tyler immediately. Kasich has the final say.
Tyler’s lawyers say his co-defendant Leroy Head took responsibility for the shooting several times. Cuyahoga County prosecutors dispute Tyler’s innocence but also pushed for clemency, saying the case doesn’t meet current standards for capital punishment.
The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction also said Monday it believes McGuire was not conscious and did not experience pain or distress during his Jan. 14 execution. The 26-minute execution was the longest since Ohio resumed putting inmates to death in 1999 and McGuire’s family argued that he suffered during the process.
In Oklahoma, convicted killer Clayton Lockett was given the first of a three-drug lethal injection Tuesday, when he started thrashing and clenching his teeth, and was straining to lift his head off the pillow. Prison officials halted the proceedings, but Lockett died of a heart attack a short time later.
These developments come amid discussions about Ohio’s death penalty by a panel convened in 2011 by Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor. The committee finalized its recommendations earlier this month. They include reducing the number of crimes eligible for the death penalty and creating a statewide board that would have the final say over death penalty charges in the state.
In their dissenting report, prosecutors said the panel’s recommendations would create a more complicated system. Their rebuttal said too many of the recommendations were anti-death penalty, one-sided and biased toward the defense bias.