MONTGOMERY,
Ala. (AP) — Alabama on Thursday halted the execution of an inmate who
had argued that his veins were too damaged for lethal injection, because
medical staff did not think they could connect the intravenous line by
the time the death warrant expired at midnight.
Alabama
Corrections Commissioner Jeff Dunn said the prison system halted Doyle
Lee Hamm's execution around 11:30 p.m. "out of an abundance of caution"
after medical staff said they did not think they could obtain "the
appropriate venous access" before midnight.
"It
was a time issue," Dunn said. "I wouldn't necessarily characterize what
we had tonight as a problem. ... The only indication I have is that in
their medical judgment it was more of a time issue given the late hour."
Bernard Harcourt, a law school professor representing Hamm, said the state should be "ashamed."
"This
is exactly what I have been saying since July. Since July, I have been
telling the state of Alabama that Doyle Lee Hamm does not have adequate
veins for a lethal injection," Harcourt said.
Source: Yahoo News
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