Only one of three planned executions completed: Florida carries out death sentence, Texas Gov commutes at last minute, and Alabama misses deadline
As noted in this prior post, yesterday there were executions scheduled in Alabama, Florida and Texas. If all three had been carried out, it would have marked first time in eight years that three killers were all executed on the same day. But, and the press stories below detail, only Florida completed its planned execution:
Texas: "Gov. Greg Abbott commutes death sentence minutes before Bart Whitaker's scheduled execution":
Kent Whitaker was praying when he got the news: The governor had spared his son. In an unexpected last-minute decision, Gov. Greg Abbott granted clemency to the Sugar Land man slated for execution Thursday, just minutes before he was to be strapped to the gurney in Huntsville.
Thomas "Bart" Whitaker was sent to death row for targeting his own family in a 2003 murder-for-hire plot aimed at landing a hefty $1 million inheritance.
Florida: "Eric Branch's last words target governor, AG: 'Let them come down here and do it'":
Convicted murderer Eric Branch used his final moments before he was executed to make a political statement, falling into unconsciousness as he shouted "murderers" between blood-curdling screams on the execution gurney.
The state of Florida carried out the execution of Branch, 47, on Thursday evening at the Florida State Prison in Raiford — roughly 335 miles from where he abducted, sexually assaulted and killed University of West Florida student Susan Morris as she was leaving a night class in January 1993.
Branch, who was on death row for nearly 25 years, was pronounced dead of a lethal injection at 6:05 p.m. Central Standard Time.
Alabama: "Execution of Alabama inmate Doyle Lee Hamm called off"
Doyle Lee Hamm survived his date with the executioner Thursday, as Alabama was unable to begin the procedure before the death warrant expired at midnight.
It was after 11:30 p.m. when word came that the execution had been called off. Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner Jeff Dunn said medical personnel had advised officials that there wasn't enough time to ensure that the execution could be conducted in a humane manner. However, Dunn declined to detail the exact medical factors behind the decision, and said he didn't want to characterize them as a problem.
Hamm, 61, was convicted of killing Cullman hotel clerk Patrick Cunningham in January 1987. Recent appeals in his case involved the question of whether cancer had left him healthy enough to be executed without excessive suffering. His advocates had argued that his veins were in such bad shape that it wouldn't be possible for the state to carry out its lethal injection protocol cleanly.
One of Hamm's attorneys, Bernard Harcourt, was among those waiting outside death row at Holman Correctional Facility near Atmore. Afterward, via Twitter, he speculated that "they probably couldn't find a vein and had been poking him for over 2 1/2 hours."
Also worth noting is that the Alabama inmate's appeals to the Supreme Court generated some comments from some Justices detailed in this order: Justice Breyer issued a short statement respecting the denial of a stay which spoke to the defendant's lengthy time on death row; Justice Ginsburg issued a dissent, which Justice Sotomayor joined, expressing concerns "about how Hamm’s execution would be carried out." Since the execution was not carried out, it will be interesting to see now if and when courts get asked again to scrutinize Alabama's execution plans and protocols.
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