Execution of a convicted killer in Ohio with an untested and controversial combination of lethal injection drugs lasted unusually long and was marked by the prisoner’s gasping. His family might now sue the state over the incident.
Nearly 25 minutes passed between Dennis McGuire, 53, started receiving a previously untested two-drug combination and he was pronounced death. The execution has been described as one of the longest in the history of Ohio. During those 25 minutes, the Columbus Dispatch reported that McGuire was “struggling and gasping loudly for air, making snorting and choking sounds that lasted for at least 10 minutes, with his chest heaving and his fist clenched. Deep, rattling sounds emanated from his mouth.”
“The people of the state of Ohio should be appalled at what was done here today in their names,” Dennis McGuire’s attorney, Allen Bohnert said as cited by AFP. He also described the convicted killer’s death as “a failed, agonizing experiment.”
The family of the condemned man has been considering a lawsuit over the execution, as it has been “deeply disturbed by” what happened and “believes it violated his constitutional rights,” according to the Washington Post, citing Dayton defense lawyer John Paul Rion.
The execution was performed with the help of an untested combination of drugs as Ohio has exhausted its supply of typical lethal injection sedatives. Numerous states are rushing to experiment with various, often contentious, drug mixtures. Due to moral objections, European Union pharmaceutical companies have generally halted shipments of drugs to state correctional departments which use them in executions.
