Execution halted with 90 minutes to spare

[NYVet]

Source: CNN

CARSON CITY, Nevada (AP) -- A killer's execution was halted 90 minutes before he was set to die amid arguments from death penalty opponents that the state should wait until the U.S. Supreme Court reviews the constitutionality of lethal injections.

<snip>

Castillo, 34, had declined to file appeals of his own and prison officials have said he was ready to die. The American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada appealed to halt any executions in the state.

<snip>

Nevada prison officials planned to execute Castillo with double doses of three drugs -- amounts so strong that the first injection likely would have caused him to immediately become unconscious.


Nevada Corrections Director Howard Skolnik said Castillo was disappointed when he told him about the stay.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/law/10/16/nevada.execution.ap/index.html

---

Affiliated story located at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21195692/

The thing that gets me is that he did not want any appeals filed.

[Bicoastal]

1. Psyche!

Had you going, didn't we?

[robinlynne]

2. Damn, and I thought I was having a bad day....

[MNDemNY]

3. The death penalty is a wast of time and money.

NO deterrent effect, once carried out, irreversible. Until the chance of human error is removed, it should go the way of the dinosaur. (read:never)

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

4. How Do You All Feel About This?

I know there are plenty of people here who are strongly against the death penalty.

But what about when someone actually WANTS TO DIE. The Jeffrey Dahmer's of the world. Don't you think we should save the taxpayer's money, and just rid them from this planet?

[Yael]

5. I am mixed on it

There are cases out there that cry out for this and others I question.

[geomon666]

6. Just as soon as assissted suicide is legalized.

Then I'll be happy to hear from the suicidal killers of the world about what they want.

[...of J.Temperance]

9. People should have the right to Assisted Suicide

If someone is living in excruciating pain, and there's no hope for a cure for their illness....I think it's very cruel to not allow them to die with dignity if they want to.

To be honest, Assisted Suicide for the terminally ill is being kind and compassionate....it's an act of kindness and compassion.

I support Assisted Suicide being made legal.

[Parche]

7. DP

I am for the DP with people like this, murder only. :hi:

[Orsino]

11. It's a sign of failure...

...the multiple failures which presumably occurred long ago, preventing the diagnosis and successful treatment of such a person. Also the current failures of our "justice" system, in which convicts undergo daily torture; it's not surprising that some would rather die than live that way, and doesn't necessarily indicate a death wish.

[...of J.Temperance]

8. Lethal Injection isn't a "cruel and unusual punishment"

Lethal Injection is a humane method of execution....too humane in my humble opinion for certain crimes.

Serial killers, child killers, mass murderers, the torment, pain and suffering that they've subjected their victims to....Old Sparky should be the method for them, not the relative peaceful form of execution that a lethal injection brings.

I get tired of these anti-Death Penalty groups always getting upset because *gasp* the serial killer, or the child killer, or the mass murderer might feel a BIT of pain....hey it's all done in less than 20 minutes isn't it?

Some of these freaks of nature have kept, raped, tortured their INNOCENT victims for days and put the poor people through a living Hell before they've killed them and then discarded them like a piece of used trash.

Nobody it seems in the anti-Death Penalty crowd even bothers about the innocent victims....oh but I forgot, the freaks of nature that have been sentenced to Death, they're "victims" too aren't they? :sarcasm:

Here's an idea, IF these freaks of nature DON'T want to get executed, then it's simple....DON'T become a serial killer in the first place, DON'T become a child killer in the first place, DON'T become a mass murderer in the first place.

I don't go for the "oh but they didn't know what they were doing" horsecrap....the majority of them KNOW EXACTLY what they were doing....the Criminal Insanity plea is well known to get abused so they can escape getting the Death Penalty....Andrea Yates comes to mind, she got a savvy lawyer....her FIVE CHILDREN that she systematically drowned, what did THEY get? They got NOTHING but turning to dust in the cold ground....Yates should be sitting on Death Row for what she did.

The ACLU had no right to butt in in the case of Castillo, what part of HE WANTED TO BE EXECUTED DON'T they understand?

Mind you at least this isn't as mind-boggling as the run-up to when Tookie Williams was getting executed, I remember DU that week, but I'll admit that we DID have some good discussions at DU that week....often very heated discussions, but highly interesting discussions.

As I said during the Tookie Williams thing, I'm 100% pro-Death Penalty....because I believe that the ULTIMATE punishment should fit the most HEINOUS crimes.

I have zero sympathy for the freaks of nature like serial killers, child killers and mass murderers....in fact pedophilia should be made a Capital Offense as well.

On Edit: I'm sorry if some of my comments here upset anyone....but I'm VERY passionate about this topic, when I say I'm 100% pro-Death Penalty I mean it....no exceptions, no mercy, no nothing.

[hyphenate]

10. For some of us, the problem isn't the death

penalty so much as it is a necessity for irrecontrovertible proof that someone is indeed guilty of the crime they are convicted of.

There are many people who will be convicted despite the circumstantial evidence, and some of those convictions will be based on good old fashioned ignorance and intolerance, especially defendants that are black. We can't hide the fact that there are an awful lot of black men convicted of crimes for which later science proves they are not guilty; there are groups formed just for the purpose of proving the innocence of men who still sit on death row--many of them have been released after years of protesting their innocence but not getting anywhere.

I think that one quote really goes to the crux of the matter: it is better to keep alive a convicted man than to execute an innocent one.

Granted that is somewhat pollyannish in many ways, it really comes down to whether prejudice plays a role in our moral choices and if there is too much politics in our law enforcement, looking for a fast conviction despite inconsistencies to the contrary.

[Orsino]

12. Plus, many of us don't want to feed a system that demands and revels in death.

I don't want my government trained to kill people on a regular basis. Every capital case should be agonized over, and if even a tenth of the effort, time and expense of execution were spent on rehabilitation or study, this would be a better country and world. I want us to focus on how to treat and prevent the worst violent tendencies.

[smokey nj]

13. I couldn't agree with you more. I don't want the government in the revenge business.

Have you seen the documentary, "Deadline"? It deals with the events surrounding Gov. Ryan's decision to examine the death penalty in IL. Here's a link to the movie's website:

http://deadlinethemovie.com/about_the_film/about_deadline.php

[Orsino]

16. Fascinating. n/t

[truthisfreedom]

14. We don't know if it's obscenely painful or not. We've never asked any of the recipients.

Basically, what I understand is, the first drug paralyzes the subject so that you can't see the reaction they have to the second drug. I don't believe in torture, even if it's the last thing someone experiences. What if the second drug is more painful than anything anyone could imagine, goes on for an extended period, and the subject cannot move to indicate the pain they are suffering? Why should we potentially be inflicting torturous pain on people who are already paying the ultimate price for their crimes?

[slackmaster]

15. Is that what they call a "partial-death execution"?

:shrug: