A Texas execution has renewed scrutiny of lethal injection in the United States after an inmate in Tennessee survived an attempt using the same drug just days earlier.
Jamaal Howard, 46, was executed Wednesday at a state prison in Huntsville, Texas, for fatally shooting a convenience store clerk more than 20 years ago. He was pronounced dead at 8:03 p.m. after receiving pentobarbital, a drug used in lethal injections, the Associated Press reported.
Howard was the 30th person executed in the U.S. this year and the first since Christa Pike survived a failed execution attempt in Tennessee on Sept. 30.
Pike, who was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, was taken to a Nashville hospital after the injection and placed on a ventilator. Her lawyers said Tuesday she had regained consciousness and was speaking.
Questions about execution procedures
Pike’s lawyers say execution staff struggled to insert intravenous (IV) lines to deliver the drug. An emergency court filing said staff used at least seven needles, one of which was bent at a 90-degree angle when removed.
Her lawyers said Pike’s arms were swollen, burned and blistered when she arrived at the hospital. They believe problems with the IV lines may have caused the drug to enter her surrounding tissue instead of her bloodstream.
Tennessee officials said the execution followed the state’s approved procedure, which allows a backup injection if the first dose does not result in death. However, the protocol does not explain what to do if the second injection also fails.
Pike remains hospitalized with pneumonia and a blood clot in one arm, according to her lawyer, Randy Spivey. He said she faces a long recovery.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has ordered an independent investigation and halted executions in the state for the rest of the year. Pike’s case was the state’s second failed execution attempt this year.
Legal and political fallout
Howard’s lawyers tried to stop his execution, arguing he had an intellectual disability and raising concerns about the drug used in lethal injections. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals rejected the motions without explanation.
Meanwhile, a Tennessee judge has ordered the state to preserve evidence related to Pike’s failed execution, including communications, medical records and physical evidence.
The case has also become an issue in Tennessee’s gubernatorial race. Republican nominee and U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn has called for the return of the electric chair, while Democratic candidate Jerri Green has pledged to halt future executions.
Green described Pike’s experience as torture and argued that the death penalty is costly, biased and ineffective at preventing violent crime.
