June 15 2011: Eddie Duval Powell is executed by lethal injection in Alabama. Powell closes his eyes. He then opens them again later. Seemingly confused and startled, he jerked his head to one side and began breathing heavily, his chest rose and contracted.
Eddie Duval Powell was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in 1995. He was on death row in Alabama for twelve years after being tried twice. At his first trial the jury weren't able to reach an agreed punishment; it was at the second trial that he was found guilty and convicted. Alabama's appellate Court upheld the decision despite serious concerns raised Eddie's legal team had raised about racial discrimination. In addition, concerns over Eddie's mental disability likely rendered his entire execution was unconstitutional.
Eddie was the second person in the state of Alabama to be executed using the barbiturate pentobarbital – which has now replaced sodium thiopental as one of the most widely-used execution drugs in most of the US. Pentobarbital was not designed to induce surgical anaesthesia and has not been clinically tested for the purpose. Media reports of Eddie's execution and that of Roy Willard Blankenship who was also executed using pentobarbital on 23 June in Georigia showed striking similarities - both prisoners had seemed startled while their bodies jerked as the drugs were administered.
The pentobarbital used in Eddie's execution was supplied by Danish firm Lundbeck Pharmaceuticals, who at the time expressed a desire that their drugs not be used for such a purpose. On 1 July 2011, following pressure from Reprieve, Lundbeck announced it was putting in place robust and unprecedented measures to block the use of Lundbeck pentobarbital in executions. Reprieve is now working to identify other pharmaceutical companies and calling for them to introduce similar measures.
To learn how healthcare professionals can help stop execution by lethal injection please contact Maya Foa.
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Zero DB