Vein trouble gives opponents fodder

Officials had problems finding a vein during the execution Tuesday.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- Defense attorneys and death-penalty opponents said Wednesday the unprecedented difficulties injecting a man executed in Ohio illustrate the problems with a method of capital punishment they call unconstitutional.
Problems finding a suitable vein to deliver drugs during Joseph Lewis Clark's execution Tuesday demonstrated the complications that can arise, said David Bodiker, Ohio's public defender. His office has sued the state challenging the effectiveness of its method of lethal injection.
"I think that this underlines or emphasizes the fact that we're not capable of actually imposing a formula for taking the life of the people on death row and doing it a manner that we have committed to which is painless and efficient," he said.
Clark's execution counters the belief that lethal injection is easy and straightforward, said Douglas Berman, an Ohio State University law professor who studies the death penalty.
"It's another piece of evidence to give the court to think about," he said.
Here was the scene
The execution team at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville worked for about 25 minutes to find a vein in Clark's right arm before continuing with just the shunt in his left arm. "It don't work," he said as the team initially tried to start the injection. Prison officials later said his vein had collapsed.
A curtain behind a glass panel separating him from the area where witnesses watched the execution was pulled shut, but Clark could be heard moaning and groaning. The execution continued about 40 minutes later after another vein was found.
Clark, sentenced to die for killing gas station attendant David Manning during a spree of robberies in 1984, died about 90 minutes after the execution was to begin.
Clark's attorney, George Pappas, watched the execution but did not comment afterward. Messages seeking comment were left at his office Wednesday.
Prisons director Terry Collins said Wednesday that the department will complete a review before the next execution takes place. Despite the complications, Collins said he didn't think the process went wrong, but the review will focus on ways to improve.
About the lawsuit
A federal judge in Columbus last week indefinitely postponed the execution of Jeffrey Hill, who is part of a death row lawsuit that claims Ohio's method of execution is cruel and unusual.
Hill's lawyer, Gary Crim, said the problems with Clark's execution support the basis of the challenge: that the way executions are being carried out isn't working as intended. He said he believes Clark's execution could have some influence on those deciding the lawsuit.
"Certainly my experience is [Supreme Court] justices read newspapers," he said.
A growing number of death row inmates nationwide are filing challenges to the injection method, contending their executions could be painful because of the drug combination or because the procedure would not be handled by specially trained medical personnel.
The U.S. Supreme Court last week examined a Florida case that asks whether inmates can file last-minute civil rights challenges contending lethal injection is cruel and unusual punishment. A ruling is expected before July.
Where it's used
Lethal injections are used by the federal government and 37 of the 38 states that have the death penalty. Nebraska still uses the electric chair.
In California, executions are on hold while a federal judge considers the constitutionality of that state's protocol. A hearing is scheduled in September.
Clark's execution strengthens the case for declaring lethal injection cruel and unusual, said Dr. Jonathan Groner, an associate professor of surgery at Ohio State University's medical college. He said other death row inmates likely have veins that are difficult to access because of past drug use or obesity.
"I don't sleep any better at night thinking people are going by lethal injection," Groner said. "Clearly, some of them are tortured to the extreme."