Court filing: Arkansas' 2017 executions unveiled problems
Source: Associated Press
Kelly P. Kissel, Associated Press
Updated 5:01 pm, Tuesday, June 5, 2018
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Eighteen condemned inmates say in new court filings that the executions of four men in Arkansas last year exposed problems that should render the state's lethal injection procedure unconstitutional.
The prisoners late Monday asked a federal judge to let them amend a lawsuit filed after Arkansas scheduled eight executions in an 11-day period last year. Four inmates from the original lawsuit were put to death, three received stays and Gov. Asa Hutchinson granted clemency to one.
The inmates initially claimed Arkansas' use of the surgical sedative midazolam might expose them to excruciating pain because it couldn't render them unconscious before two other drugs stopped their lungs and hearts. The revised lawsuit says the four executions last year support their view.
"During several of the executions, the condemned moved when they should have been anesthetized or paralyzed," lawyers for the inmates wrote, citing witness accounts from various media, including The Associated Press. "During Kenneth Williams' execution, Williams began bucking against his restraints so hard that it caused bruising to his head."
Read more: https://www.chron.com/news/us/article/Court-filing-Arkansas-2017-executions-unveiled-12969892.php