1086

BOTCHED EXECUTION BRINGS REPRIEVE

Jon Craig and Lisa Preston

September 15, 2009
http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090915/NEWS/909160350&GID=X0nt7d1yunM/A1q0veJAOGofZ0x5FYQ/Ww1

LUCASVILLE - A condemned inmate whose execution was stopped because of problems finding a usable vein will remain in the same maximum security prison over the next week.

Prisons spokeswoman Julie Walburn says inmate Romell Broom has been placed in a cell in the infirmary at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville.

Walburn says Broom is on close watch similar to the constant observation of death row inmates in the three days before an execution.

Death row inmates are housed in a Youngstown prison and executed in the death chamber at Lucasville. There's no precedent for housing an inmate whose execution didn't work.

After an execution team spent about two hours trying to find a usable vein on Broom’s arms and legs, Gov. Ted Strickland ordered a week’s reprieve for the 53-year-old convicted rapist-murderer from Cleveland.

In a prison witness room, the parents and aunt of Tryna Middleton – who was fatally stabbed on Sept. 21, 1984 – watched silently as prison nurses struggled to keep Broom’s veins open for a lethal mix of chemicals to execute him.

There were so many logistical problems encountered Tuesday by an experienced execution team that Broom was never moved to the injection table in the adjoining death chamber. The Middletons and four news reporters, including from The Enquirer, watched the process via television monitors as prison staff tried to hook Broom to tubes in preparation for lethal injection.

Several times, Broom rolled onto his left side, pointed at veins, straightened tubes or massaged his own arms to help prison staff keep a vein open. He was clearly frustrated as he leaned back on the gurney, covering his face with his hands and visibly crying. His stomach heaved upward and his feet twitched. There is no audio from the holding cell, so reporters could only watch his movements. When the staff tried to put IVs in his legs, Broom looked up toward the camera above, appearing to grimace, at least four times, from pain.

As Broom’s anxiety grew, he repeatedly wiped his sweaty forehead with toilet paper.

Broom had no witnesses present; however, his attorney, S. Adele Shank, asked to watch after an hour of failed attempts to find a working vein.

“I want to know what Romell wants me to do,” she said. “He’s always been very cooperative. … I started getting worried.”

Shank left the witness area for about 30 minutes before returning to say Strickland and Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer had been notified about the problems.

“I was very distressed,” Shank said afterward. “We are grateful this was stopped today.”

Terry J. Collins, director of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, said prison staff had asked Broom several times if he wanted to take a break, but the inmate said no. Shank and Collins both stated that each had made a recommendation to Strickland to halt the process for the day. The execution was rescheduled for 10 a.m. Tuesday, but Shank said legal appeals are a certainty.

The problems prompted the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio to ask state officials to immediately halt executions.

“With three botched executions in as many years, it’s clear that the state must stop and review the system entirely before another person is put to death,” ACLU Ohio counsel Carrie Davis said. In addition to the delayed execution of Joseph Clark in 2006, the state also had difficulty finding the veins of inmate Christopher Newton, whose May 2007 execution was delayed nearly two hours. In that case, the state said the delay was caused by team members taking their time.

The problems led to changes in Ohio’s lethal injection process. Since then, the state’s execution rules have allowed team members to take as much time as they need to find the best vein for the IVs that carry three chemicals.

Collins said the difficulty in the process “absolutely, positively” does not shake his faith in the state’s lethal injection procedure.

Legal appeals delayed the start of the execution process by 3½ hours, to 2 p.m.

This was the first of 33 executions carried out since 1999 that was stopped for procedural reasons. Others were postponed due to court stays.

At least 20 protesters showed up. Many left for home by 1:30 p.m. because of the long drive home and the sweltering heat.

The one group that was there to the end was from Cincinnati. Sister Alice Gerdeman is president of Ohioans to Stop Executions. There were four of them remaining when the execution was halted. All four were still praying and weeping for Broom and his victims as the empty hearse drove out the prison gate.

The Associated Press contributed.