Next week, the state of Louisiana plans to execute convicted child killer Christopher Sepulvado — unless his lawyers convince a judge or the U.S. Supreme Court that it should be delayed due to questions about the state’s lethal injection method.
Tuesday night in Missouri, the scheduled execution of Herbert Smulls, convicted of killing a jeweler, was postponed so the U.S. Supreme Court could review the case. Part of the appeal relates to questions about the quality and source of the lethal injection drug.
Both states’ execution plans call for a single drug, pentobarbital. That drug is hard to come by after the manufacturer outlawed its use in executions. Some states have turned to compounding pharmacies, which mix drugs for special cases.
Due to problems procuring pentobarbital, this week the Louisiana Department of Corrections changed its rules to allow for a two-drug mix used for the first time in Ohio in January. In that case, inmate Dennis McGuire “appeared to gasp several times and took more than 15 minutes to die.”
Thursday at 1 p.m. CT, you can discuss these cases with the Lens and St. Louis Public Radio reporters who have followed these cases:
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Della Hasselle, a freelance reporter who has covered this issue extensively for The Lens
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Chris McDaniel, who has reported on the Missouri case for St. Louis Public Radio
They’ll talk about states’ recent difficulties in finding execution drugs, questions about new drug mixes and the secrecy surrounding states’ execution protocols. Submit your comments and questions; I’ll moderate and post them.
Before the chat starts you can pose your questions in the comments section below.
I am Stephen Pope a reporter with Allvoices and would like to know what obstacles other reporters have obtaining information on the source of the drug(s) and the doctor(s) who write the prescriptions using FOIA/state open records act requests?
What is the federal lethal injection protocol? Couldn’t states just use what the federal government uses?