Ohio’s lethal-injection process flawed, killer says in seeking execution delay

COLUMBUS (AP) — Next month’s execution of a man sentenced to die for strangling his 67-year-old neighbor should be delayed because the state has demonstrated a pattern of problems putting people to death, his attorneys said in a court filing.

Lawrence Reynolds, scheduled to die Oct. 8, asked a federal appeals court Thursday to allow him to challenge the constitutionality of Ohio’s lethal-injection process.

Reynolds, 43, cites the state’s unsuccessful attempt Sept. 15 to put Romell Broom to death for raping and killing a teenage girl. Gov. Ted Strickland halted Broom’s execution after two hours when executioners repeatedly failed to find a usable vein.

Broom, who said he was stuck with needles as many as 18 times, wept during the procedure and later complained of painful needle sticks into his bone and muscles.

A federal judge has delayed Broom’s execution until at least Nov. 30, when he will hear arguments by Broom’s lawyers that the state shouldn’t get a second chance to put him to death.

What happened to Broom proves the state doesn’t have the skills to carry out executions, Reynolds said in Thursday’s filing with the 6th U.S. Court of Appeals in Cincinnati.

Attorney General spokeswoman Holly Hollingsworth had no immediate comment Friday.

Prisons director Terry Collins has said Broom’s case “absolutely, positively” does not shake his faith in the state’s lethal-injection procedure.

Reynolds was convicted of killing Loretta Foster in 1994 in her Cuyahoga Falls home. The state Parole Board last week rejected a request for mercy.

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