US 'painless' execution delayed

[Judi Lynn]

Last Updated: Tuesday, 21 February 2006, 11:44 GMT

US 'painless' execution delayed

Morales would be the 14th inmate to be executed in California since 1977
The execution of a convicted murderer has been delayed in the US after doctors refused to participate.
Michael Morales was set to become the first inmate to be put to death by lethal injection in California under a procedure that aims to minimise pain.

But the two doctors in attendance withdrew, citing ethical reasons prompted by a last-minute court ruling.
(snip/...)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4734908.stm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anesthesiologists Delay Calif. Execution

Execution of Man Convicted of Raping, Murdering Teen Delayed After Anesthesiologists Withdraw

By LISA LEFF

SAN QUENTIN, Calif. Feb 21, 2006 (AP)— The planned execution of a man convicted of raping and murdering a 17-year-old girl was delayed until Tuesday night after two anesthesiologists refused to participate because of ethical concerns.

With the execution scheduled for 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, defense lawyers requested a stay from the federal judge who last week ordered San Quentin State Prison to have an anesthesiologist on hand to minimize Michael Angelo Morales' pain as he was put to death by lethal injection. A second anesthesiologist was retained as a backup.

Although U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel denied the motion, both anesthesiologists withdrew, citing ethical concerns raised by his ruling.

The exact wording of the judge's order was not immediately available, but the anesthesiologists issued a statement through the prison saying they were concerned about a requirement that they intervene in the event that Morales woke up or appeared to be in pain.
(snip/...)

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1643533

[CJCRANE]

1. That headline has a double meaning!

I thought it was metaphorical, i.e. neocons trying to get rid of the USA but not quite succeeding yet (e.g. the port sell-off issue).

[depakid]

2. Hangman's ethics!

"Any such intervention would be medically unethical. As a result, we have withdrawn from participation in this current process... What is being asked of us is ethically unacceptable," the doctors said in a statement."

Umm- these are physicians. I don't get how they can participate in an execution of a healthy, unwilling individual at all.

[Journeyman]

11. The Hangman at Home . . .

What does a hangman think about
When he goes home at night from work?
When he sits down with his wife and
Children for a cup of coffee and a
Plate of ham and eggs, do they ask
Him if it was a good day's work
And everything went well or do they
Stay off some topics and talk about
The weather, baseball, politics
And the comic strips in the papers
And the movies? Do they look at his
Hands when he reaches for the coffee
Or the ham and eggs? If the little
Ones say, Daddy, play horse, here's
A rope -- does he answer like a joke:
I seen enough rope for today?
Or does his face light up like a
Bonfire of joy and does he say:
It's a good and dandy world we live
In. And if a white face moon looks
In through a window where a baby girl
Sleeps and the moon-gleams mix with
Baby ears and baby hair -- the hangman --
How does he act then? It must be easy
For him. Anything is easy for a hangman,
I guess.

Carl Sandburg

[DavidDvorkin]

3. "But we promise that your bloodlust will be satisfied eventually"

prison officials reassured an anxious nation of barbarians.

[Canuckistanian]

4. I think executions should be done by the ruling judges

Let THEM push the button that kills another human being.

[bunkerbuster1]

5. screw that. Make the legislators pull the lever, insert the needle,

etc. Every damn one of them, Republican and Democrat.

Let's see how long the death penalty stays on the books if these tough-talking men and women have to do the deed themselves.

[Tyler Durden]

7. No! Make the JURIES do it.

Just like a firing squad: 12 buttons, ALL have to be pushed to start the death juice.

Personalize the Death Penalty, and you'll see the last one.

[Canuckistanian]

8. Good idea.

And put a timer on the buttons. If anyone hesitates, the system is shut down.

[Tyler Durden]

13. Here's an even BETTER idea...

Personally, I would ok only ONE form of Death Penalty:

Hoisting to the Yardarm of the USS Constitution in Boston Harbor, Nationally Televised on ALL CHANNELS, Cable Included, NO HOOD on the condemned, with the Judge, Jury, and EVERY SINGLE LIVING RELATIVE of the Victim present to watch the condemned SLOWLY STRANGLE, AND EVERY SINGLE LIVING RELATIVE of the Condemned present so the Judge, Jury, and the Victim's Relatives can watch THEM too.

And don't give me any "cruel and unusual" bullshit. DEATH is cruel and unusual in and of itself as a legal penalty, so how you get there is just details. Details that all involved should have to WATCH, LIVE AND IN PERSON. No more of this "legal" detatchment garbage.

Never fly. So...How about this?

No matter WHAT method you use, the Victim's Relatives must LEGALLY witness the act: no curtain. Nada. The whole magilla. AND to start the juice/connect the current/spring the trap/start the gas requires 12 buttons be pressed BY THE JURY SENTENCING THE CONDEMNED. ALL 12. NO EXCEPTIONS.

And by the way, a Catholic explained this to me:

If you just PLAN to kill someone (Death Penalty included), then according to this person, you are participating in a MORTAL SIN. You don't even have to DO it, just participate in the planning.

Can you say, "JURY DUTY?"

[geomon666]

15. I can think of a few Neocons that would love to do it.

Dead Eye Dick would practically get off on it.

[catabryna]

6. I saw this news this morning

This is the AP version:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060221/ap_on_re_us/california_execution

What appalled me was the following:

"Morales was told of the delay and was "nonchalant," Crittendon said. But Winchell's relatives were visibly upset, he said.

"There was a great deal of concern on their faces under the circumstances of some people that Michael Morales would not suffer," Crittendon said. "They find that to be very disturbing."

This doesn't bode well for all those folks who claim that the death penalty is for the benefit of society. Clearly, the pain involved in executing this man is VERY important to the Winchell family.

[meisje]

9. He raped and murdered a 17yr old1! give me a gun, I'll finish it!

[Tyler Durden]

12. "Vengeance is MINE. I shall repay," sayeth the LORD

I'm just this side of an atheist, and that still works for me.

I don't say RELEASE the monster. EVER. But you KILL we KILL makes everybody DEAD. Time to grow some new ethos.

[Bridget Burke]

14. You mean you don't have a gun already?

Get one, immediately! Lots of folks out there deserve to die.

[ProudDad]

18. I'll bet you $10,000

you couldn't.

[Bill McBlueState]

10. I was wondering when doctors would step up.

If the medical community decided to stop participating in the death machine, it would help a lot to end this barbarism.

[nofurylike]

16. thank you for posting this, Judi Lynn. eom

[nofurylike]

17. worse, still:

A Death Sentence Built on a Lie -- Morales Deserves Clemency
Pacific News Service February 08, 2006

http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizations/ncadp/news.jsp?key=2213&t

(Editor's Note:If Michael Morales is executed on Feb. 21, it will be over the objections of the very judge who sentenced him in the first place. The very foundation of the jury's death sentence, writes New America Media contributor Michael Kroll, has since collapsed. Kroll works with incarcerated juveniles who write for The Beat Within. He is the founding director of the Death Penalty Information Center in Washington, D.C.)

-snip-

Even the judge who imposed the sentence of death against Morales, having learned that testimony the jury relied on to impose the death penalty was a lie, has now renounced the jury's verdict and his own part in a flawed process. In a letter dated Jan. 25, 2006, to Gov. Schwarzenegger, Judge Charles McGrath (appointed by Ronald Reagan) wrote that if he had known at the time what was later discovered by the Attorney General -- that the witness was lying -- he "would not have let the death sentence stand... Under such circumstances, executing Mr. Morales...would constitute a grievous and freakish injustice."

How did this happen? The short answer is that when Michael Morales was arrested along with his cousin, Ricky Ortega, for the rape and murder of 17-year-old Terri Winchell and placed in the San Joaquin County Jail, an inmate named Bruce Samuelson was also a resident there.

Samuelson is a jailhouse snitch, well-known for his willingness to give information to the authorities in exchange for leniency. Samuelson has a long criminal record. His adult probation officer from 20 years ago, Vicki Wetherell, still remembers him as a person with "brazen disregard for the law or the conditions of probation," adding that "his attempts to avoid responsibility by making up obvious lies reflected a consistent pattern of deception and antisocial tendencies."

-snip-

***

from: National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
http://www.ncadp.org//index.html


peace and solidarity

[ProudDad]

19. Check out two different versions of this story

One posted on Rueters U.S.;

http://today.reuters.com/news/NewsArticle.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyID=uri:2006-02-21T120539Z_01_N21368630_RTRUKOC_0_US-CRIME-EXECUTION-DELAY.xml&pageNumber=0&summit=


And the other at AlJazeera:

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/F92DFFF1-A896-419C-901A-A438D293E28A.htm


Funny how the AlJazeera one has more complete information about why the state is in such a hurry to murder this guy...

[toopers]

20. Interesting, he's been on death row for roughly 23 years . . .

for a murder and rape he admitted to, and the state is in a hurry.

[NFL80]

24. If they do not kill him today

the death warrant expires and would have to be reinstated by the judge that sentanced him and he won't sign it.

[MadMaddie]

21. Honestly, this guy deserves punishment...

The Death Penalty does not deter criminals. They know they will sit on death row like the guy in the article for 23 years.

I think we need to go back to hard labor. Sunrise to Sunset. It is a deterent it would start with the very first day of their confinement. If it were farming lands they would do it manually, they could fix rail roads ties.....they could have them work on infrastructure projects...But they would work so hard they would be too tired to think of escape and they would regret their awful crimes.

That way if it is found that there was a mistake and the wrong person was convicted they would still be alive.

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

22. where's all the pro deathers? you all usually show up and surprise us

You guys gotta join in and help astound everyone
as to how many "progressives"
happen to be hard line and
•pro death penalty•
•anti- environment•
•anti- health care•
•anti-animal rights•
•anti-civil rights•
•anti- immigrant•
•pro invasion•
•pro corporate•
and last but not least..
•pro porn/exploitation•

Just to clarify:
this is not directed at ANYONE in particular...but-
if you are all of the above you are not considered by definition to be "progressive"--
(EVEN if you have over 1000 posts!!)
NOTE: You all have seen it on every controversial thread-
Nice of them to try, but even if they post with 5 or so "alternate" DU identities and answer their own posts with their own alternate identities---even with all that effort most of us recognize it and don't buy the idea that hard-line is the norm at DU

but it's ALWAYS fun hearing from you guys-
so c'mon!!
let's hear from you!!

[CornField]

23. What a double-edged sword for so many

They've been debating their flipping heads off as to why a pharmacist should not be required to dispense birth control and doctors should not have to do abortions... now these two anesthesiologists have used their own talking points against them. What a problem this must pose.

[MadMaddie]

25. He....he...you are assuming that they

would actually think about the conflict of beliefs. They just glide right over it because they are so righteous and they justify their arguments!!:silly: