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Thread: Oscar Franklin Smith - Tennessee Death Row

  1. #61
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    According to AP news article by Johnathan Matiffe, Smith's federal public defender said her office was notified it involved mishandling of drugs but no other information was available. Had Smith chosen the electric chair, this would have came off.since be made no decision. Lethal injection is default in Tennessee.

  2. #62
    Senior Member CnCP Legend Mastro Titta's Avatar
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    In Edmund Zagorski's case, the Tennessee Supreme Court gave him his new date the day after his reprieve expired, and he was executed ten days later. If the unfortunate mishap of yesterday evening bears no Oklahoma-style repercussions (and I believe it doesn't), Smith could be very well executed in late June or early July.
    Last edited by Mastro Titta; 04-22-2022 at 04:08 PM.

  3. #63
    Senior Member Frequent Poster Steven AB's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Aaron View Post
    I just hope this doesn't lead to a six year moratorium like it did in Oklahoma.
    Most of the Oklahoma moratorium was because of the horrible plan to be the first state to try nitrogen hypoxia as a method of execution.

    Alabama has some sort of moratorium for the same reason, and the most realistic way to end it would be to remove nitrogen executions from their statutes. With retroactive effect.
    "If ever there were a case for a referendum, this is one on which the people should be allowed to express their own views and not irresponsible votes in the House of Commons." — Winston Churchill, on the death penalty

    The self-styled "Death Penalty Information Center" is financed by the oligarchic European Union. — The Daily Signal

  4. #64
    Administrator Aaron's Avatar
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    If it was "mishandling" as avian said, I'm guessing it probably involved improper storage of the drugs like when Gissendaner's execution was postponed. If so it is only a minor issue. Still infuriating but far from the worst scenario.
    Don't ask questions, just consume product and then get excited for next products.

    "They will hurt you. They will hurt your grandma, these people. The root cause of this is there's no discipline in the homes, they don't go to school, you know, they live off the government, no personal accountability, and they just beat people up for no reason, and it's disgusting." - Former Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters

  5. #65
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    Still no statement from governor office stating what went wrong.a report from channel 5 in Tennessee says their are some groups calling to change to death by dieing squad. They reference a 1959 war department book how it could handled in Tennessee execution by musketry.
    Condemned would face 8 rifles with at least 1 but not more than 3 filled with blanks. If that does not work,the coupe de grace then admin with postal at point blank range to head. I believe I also read stay is only in place until early June

  6. #66
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    *firing squad not dieing squad. Autocorrect

  7. #67
    Senior Member CnCP Addict maybeacomedian's Avatar
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    Dying Squad has a nice ring to it...

  8. #68
    Senior Member CnCP Legend Mike's Avatar
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    Gov. Lee Calls for Independent Review Following Smith Reprieve

    Today, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee announced plans to launch a third-party review of a lethal injection testing oversight that resulted in a temporary reprieve for death row inmate Oscar Franklin Smith.

    “I review each death penalty case and believe it is an appropriate punishment for heinous crimes,” said Lee. “However, the death penalty is an extremely serious matter, and I expect the Tennessee Department of Correction to leave no question that procedures are correctly followed.”

    Both the United States Supreme Court and Lee declined to intervene on the merits of Smith’s case, but questions surrounding lethal injection testing preparation for the April 21 execution resulted in a temporary reprieve by the governor.

    Tennessee will retain former U.S. Attorney Ed Stanton to conduct an independent review of the following:

    · Circumstances that led to testing the lethal injection chemicals for only potency and sterility but not endotoxins preparing for the April 21 execution

    · Clarity of the lethal injection process manual that was last updated in 2018, and adherence to testing policies since the update

    · TDOC staffing considerations

    “An investigation by a respected third-party will ensure any operational failures at TDOC are thoroughly addressed,” said Lee. “We will pause scheduled executions through the end of 2022 in order to allow for the review and corrective action to be put in place.”

    Since 2019, three of four executions have been carried out by electric chair. Death row inmates may choose to be executed by electric chair rather than lethal injection, and lethal injection is the default execution method in Tennessee. The April 21 execution was set to be the first execution since February 2020 due to disruptions caused by COVID-19. This execution was one of five executions scheduled to take place this year. The Tennessee Supreme Court will determine rescheduled dates for the 2022 executions.

    https://www.tn.gov/governor/news/202...-reprieve.html
    "There is a point in the history of a society when it becomes so pathologically soft and tender that among other things it sides even with those who harm it, criminals, and does this quite seriously and honestly. Punishing somehow seems unfair to it, and it is certain that imagining ‘punishment’ and ‘being supposed to punish’ hurts it, arouses fear in it." Friedrich Nietzsche

  9. #69
    Senior Member CnCP Legend Mike's Avatar
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    2 people in execution knew drugs hadn’t been tested

    By KIMBERLEE KRUESI
    The Associated Press

    At least two people connected to a Tennessee execution that was abruptly put on hold last month knew the night before that the lethal injection drugs the state planned to use hadn't undergone some required testing, newly released records show.

    Citing an “oversight," Gov. Bill Lee had called off the execution of 72-year-old Oscar Smith barely an hour before the planned lethal injection April 21 for Smith's conviction in the 1989 killings of his estranged wife and her two teenage sons. The governor's office later disclosed that the drugs had not been tested for endotoxins.

    The Republican governor's administration declined to release much information, saying the issue was “technical.” Instead, Lee recently appointed a former U.S. attorney to lead an independent investigation and also paused four other executions scheduled this year.

    On April 21, there were no signs the lethal injection would not take place until about an hour beforehand, when the governor’s office issued a news release calling it off. Just before learning of his reprieve, Smith had received communion from his spiritual adviser, who was going to be allowed in the execution chamber. He had eaten a last meal, and media witnesses and relatives of the families were gathered and waiting. The U.S. Supreme Court had also denied a last-hour bid by Smith’s attorneys for a stay.

    On Friday, the Department of Correction released 20 pages of heavily redacted emails and text messages to The Associated Press through a public records request.

    In them, experts say testing was not performed for so-called endotoxins, which usually come from bacteria. Such testing is considered vital because it could be an indication of problems with the manufacture of the drugs. However, the endotoxins themselves likely wouldn’t cause a problem in an execution setting because endotoxins typically are not immediately fatal, according to Frank Romanelli, professor of pharmacy at the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy.

    A spokesperson for the Department of Correction did not respond to questions surrounding when the state knew the execution drugs had not been properly tested.

    Tennessee’s execution protocols require any compounded drugs to be independently tested for potency, sterility and endotoxins. It wasn't known if the other testing had been conducted from the records provided.

    At last week's news conference announcing the independent investigation, Lee said the testing problem was noticed shortly before the execution was to have been carried out. The records provided to AP imply that some people knew almost a day before.

    Almost all names, email addresses, phone numbers and any other identifiable information was removed from the records. Even the name of the governor's communication team, which is regularly distributed to media and the public, was stripped out. According to the correction agency's general counsel, the state redacted the names of those who had been, or may in the future, be directly involved in the execution process.

    Tennessee uses a three-drug series to put inmates to death: midazolam, a sedative to render the inmate unconscious; vecuronium bromide, to paralyze the inmate; and potassium chloride, to stop the heart.

    The records did contain a text exchange between two unidentified individuals whose names had been blacked out in the records, the night before Smith's scheduled execution starting at around 8 p.m. with one person asking for the lab results on the midazolam and potassium chloride.

    The Department of Correction redacted the response, but when that same person asked for the results of the endotoxin test, the response from a separate person stated that it “isn't required” based on the amount they make.

    “Sorry, I didn't have it tested,” the text reads.

    “It's been done on prior ones,” the exchange states.

    Later that morning, a separate text message asks if it would be possible to test for endotoxins on the day of the execution.

    “Honestly doubt it,” the response states.

    Tennessee and many other states have passed exemptions to open records laws in recent years, shrouding the identity of drug suppliers and other information about executions in secrecy.

    “The failure to ensure that the lethal injection chemicals were produced in accordance with .. standards is disturbing,” said Smith's attorney Kelley Henry in an emailed statement. “Compounded high risk sterile injectables such as those used in the Tennessee lethal injection protocol are extremely risky.”

    Smith was sentenced to death for fatally stabbing and shooting estranged wife Judith Smith and her sons, Jason and Chad Burnett, at their Nashville home on Oct. 1, 1989. Tennessee had planned for five executions this year, including Smith’s. It has been seeking to resume its quick, pre-pandemic pace of putting inmates to death.

    Smith has maintained he is innocent. He earlier declined to choose between the electric chair and lethal injection, Tennessee’s two execution methods, so lethal injection became the default method. An initial June 2020 execution date for Smith was delayed because of the pandemic.

    https://www.corsicanadailysun.com/na...ac0889e18.html
    "There is a point in the history of a society when it becomes so pathologically soft and tender that among other things it sides even with those who harm it, criminals, and does this quite seriously and honestly. Punishing somehow seems unfair to it, and it is certain that imagining ‘punishment’ and ‘being supposed to punish’ hurts it, arouses fear in it." Friedrich Nietzsche

  10. #70
    Administrator Aaron's Avatar
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    Should have just executed him and covered it up...
    Don't ask questions, just consume product and then get excited for next products.

    "They will hurt you. They will hurt your grandma, these people. The root cause of this is there's no discipline in the homes, they don't go to school, you know, they live off the government, no personal accountability, and they just beat people up for no reason, and it's disgusting." - Former Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters

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