Defender says injection would violate state constitution
COLUMBUS (AP) — Ohio would violate the state constitution if it proceeds with plans to execute a prisoner next month using its lethal injection method because it does not provide a quick and painless death, the state public defender’s office said Friday.
The state should use a single, anesthetic drug instead of the three-drug combination, said Kelly Schneider, an attorney in the public defender’s office.
The office filed a lawsuit Thursday in Franklin County Common Pleas Court against Gov. Ted Strickland and top prisons officials.
The move comes just weeks before the scheduled Oct. 14 execution of Richard Cooey, who was convicted of killing two University of Akron students in 1986. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Cooey and 15 other inmates on death row.
Schneider said the lawsuit is based on a ruling by a judge in a northeast Ohio county, who said in June the state should use a single anesthetic drug.
Lorain County Common Pleas Judge James Burge based his decision on testimony from two anesthesiologists who said the last two drugs administered in the lethal injection procedure create the risk that the prisoner will experience pain.
Death sentences must be carried out using a drug or a combination of drugs that quickly and painlessly cause death, Ohio law states. Ignoring that law would violate the state constitution’s guarantee of due process under the law.
A message seeking comment was left Friday at the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.
In April, the U.S. Supreme Court turned back a constitutional challenge to the lethal injection procedure in Kentucky, which uses the same three drugs as Ohio. The high court ruled that Kentucky’s procedure didn’t constitute cruel and unusual punishment. Ohio’s lethal injection protocol is similar to Kentucky’s, but not identical.