Shocker

Scalia halts execution

The U.S. Supreme Court halted the execution Wednesday of a
condemned inmate who was part of a lawsuit that challenged one of the
drugs used to carry out the death sentence. Kevin Lee Zimmerman won his
reprieve about 20 minutes before he could have been put to death for a
fatal stabbing and robbery at a Beaumont motel in 1987. In a brief
order, Justice Antonin Scalia stopped the punishment pending an
additional order from him or the court. ...
Citing the constitutional protection against cruel and unusual
punishment, the lawsuit sought to stop use of pancuronium bromide - a
drug that paralyzes muscles. Texas, the first state to execute
condemned inmates by injection, uses a combination of three drugs:
pancuronium bromide, the barbiturate sodium thiopental and potassium
chloride, which causes cardiac arrest.

Posted by flow Frazao on December 11, 2003 at 08:22 AM | Permalink