COLUMBUS< Ohio — An attorney for the family of a killer executed by lethal injection Thursday says he suffered while relatives of his victim says he deserved to.
Dayton defense lawyer Jon Paul Rion says Dennis McGuire's execution was marked by several minutes of unprecedented gasping and unusual sounds and he plans to sue the state over what happened.
Rion says McGruire’s family is deeply disturbed by his execution and believes it violated his constitutional rights.
The so-called "air hunger" effect was expected from his attorneys, who tried to block the execution.
Relatives of the pregnant Preble County woman McGuire was convicted of raping and killing in 1989 say he deserved to suffer.
Rion is a member of a state Supreme Court panel examining possible changes to Ohio's death penalty law. He said Thursday all citizens have a right to expect they won't be punished in a cruel and unusual fashion.
McGuire took nearly 25 minutes to die, an unusually long time based on prior executions.
The American Civil Liberties Union claims changes in Ohio’s execution method have been the result of three botched executions and federal court orders declaring the state’s process unconstitutional, Mike Brickner, director of communications and public policy for the ACLU of Ohio, said.
Brickner says research shows “death sentences have less to do with the actual offense committed, and more to do with factors such as race, socioeconomic class, and the location of the crime.”