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Report to suggest exploring different execution options
By CHRIS TISCH
Published March 1, 2007
TAMPA - The commission studying Florida's lethal injection procedures will recommend that state officials review if there is a better way to execute condemned inmates than the three-drug cocktail used now. In a report due to Gov. Charlie Crist today, the 11-person commission will recommend a number of changes to state execution procedures. The panel was formed after the Dec. 13 execution of Angel Diaz took twice as long as normal and caused footlong chemical burns in his arms. Panelists believe their recommended changes could ensure that future executions aren't botched. But in a conference call meeting Wednesday, some said they believe the state should explore whether there are other drugs that could be used. Florida's cocktail, which is used in all other states that use lethal injection, starts with a powerful sedative that causes unconsciousness. That is followed by a drug that causes paralysis and one that causes a fatal heart attack. Both the second and third drug can cause pain and suffering if the first drug is not properly administered. It's important that the inmate not feel unnecessary pain and suffering because that is prohibited by the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution. The panel ultimately decided it could not say for sure if Diaz, 55, felt any pain. Execution team members said they saw no signs he was in pain, but some witnesses reported he grimaced, winced and clenched his jaw. Much of the concern about the three-drug cocktail surrounds the second drug. That drug could render an inmate paralyzed and unable to express pain if something went wrong with the first drug. The execution team would be left with a false belief that the death had gone smoothly. The drug is designed to prevent the inmate's body from involuntary shudders and convulsions that could seem unpleasant to witnesses. "We can't escape the fact that the entire issue in this case ... was whether in this execution the inmate was subject to unnecessary infliction of pain," said Circuit Judge Stan Morris, a panel member. "And we can't determine that ... because of the second drug." The panel wants the state to determine if there is another way that would be less complex than the current three-drug cocktail. But it did not say the current process was irreparably flawed.
[Last modified March 1, 2007, 06:15:13]
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by Johnny
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03/02/07 02:10 PM
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Thankfully we have a Constitution. Beware all you murderers-in-waiting based upon your postings; It seems a family member and/or good friend (friends) has not been taken out of your life on planet Earth!
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by Johnny
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03/02/07 06:09 AM
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What do you do when the courts find out FINALLY the individual did not do the crime? The answer is, the courts (police, lawers and judges) need to be highly accountable, maybe beheading them too!
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by Doug
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03/01/07 10:28 PM
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I'll never understand what the big deal is over killing killers. If the electric chair hurts, if a stick in the arm hurts, if hanging hurts, then just put a 45 cal to their temple, squeeze the trigger and then ask, "does that hurt?"
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by Louis
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03/01/07 09:54 PM
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Thankfully we have a Constitution. Beware all you murderers-in-waiting based upon your postings.
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by Dave
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03/01/07 02:34 PM
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Why not simply bring back the French Guillotine? It is highly effective, causes instant and painless death, and will eliminate all the questions about if the condemned felt any pain, died right away, etc.
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by Ellen
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03/01/07 01:28 PM
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It is a simple matter for a cautious person to verify that the needle is in the vein and that drugs are not going into surrounding tissue. These are drugs given very often in hospitals. Very routine.
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by MATT
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03/01/07 12:54 PM
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John...I am with you. Screw these guys. They caused more pain to their victims. Chop their head off!!!!
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by Richard
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03/01/07 12:49 PM
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It seems the Iraqi's quickly dispatched Sadaam. It didn't take more than a half hour for him to die!
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by Elaine
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03/01/07 12:38 PM
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Who cares if it is painful? It is a fitting end. They are already too much of a drain to the taxpayers. Line them all up in front of a firing squad and be done with it.
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by Johnny
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03/01/07 12:17 PM
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Why not use a machine for beheading by means of a heavy blade that slides down in vertical guides. Clean it with soap and water then resharpen the blade. Sounds cheap to make and maintain to me, the tax payer!
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by Howard
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03/01/07 12:12 PM
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What about shooting or hanging the killers ? Simple, easy and cheap. I will provide the service, no charge.
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by Sue
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03/01/07 10:50 AM
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What do you do when the courts find out FINALLY the individual did not do the crime? How do you bring the dead human being back to LIFE?
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by Jason
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03/01/07 09:56 AM
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Bring back Old Sparky!! Firing Squad! Guillotine! Screw being more humane, let's just make it cheaper.. Bullet to the brain. All done. Heck, I would even spring for the .49 cent bullet!
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by John
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03/01/07 09:16 AM
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Hanging, gunshot to the base of the skull, guillotine - all are better methods
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