Botched execution causes Fla. to suspend all
posted at 2:21 pm on December 16, 2006 by Ian
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Botched, like John Kerry’s joke:
Gov. Jeb Bush suspended all executions in Florida after a medical examiner said Friday that prison officials botched the insertion of the needles when a convicted killer was put to death earlier this week.
As a result of the chemicals going into Diaz’s arms around the elbow, he had an 12-inch chemical burn on his right arm and an 11-inch chemical burn on his left arm, Hamilton said.
Separately, a federal judge in California imposed a moratorium on executions in the nation’s most populous state, declaring that the state’s method of lethal injection runs the risk of violating the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
Aww, what a shame. You know what the convicted killer could have done to prevent this so-called botched execution? Wait. Wait. Not murder someone.
One liberal/socialist blogger went as far to hold Gov. Jeb Bush responsible. Silly lib, it was George Bush’s fault.
It’s one of those rare occasions Oliver Willis is correct:
Florida is halting death penalties because one guy supposedly suffered? Certainly not as much as multiple victims and their families did as they waited 27 years for him to be executed.
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This smells a little fishy. And it makes me believe they should reinstate ol’ Sparky. Or better yet, firing squads.
JammieWearingFool on December 16, 2006 at 2:24 PM
Why is it that one mistake in one situation by one executioner is enough to call a hold to all death penalties in the entire state?
Defector01 on December 16, 2006 at 2:29 PM
Well cry me a river. Personally I prefer starvation for convicted murderers. Shoot, it was good enough for Terry Shiavo, right?
bdfaith on December 16, 2006 at 2:36 PM
it’s hard to mess up a public hanging.
I’m all for it.
One Angry Christian on December 16, 2006 at 2:37 PM
WELL SAID!
One Angry Christian on December 16, 2006 at 2:37 PM
See this wouldn’t be a problem if they just used a gun…a machine gun….
Tim Burton on December 16, 2006 at 2:40 PM
Does this sound like a set up? It is not hard to insert an I.V. It is also not hard to make sure it is patent, so that meds may delivered. Well, the results of a moratorium on executions was achieved.
bloggless on December 16, 2006 at 2:43 PM
So if the guy who has the job of injecting the condemned prisoner happens to be opposed to the death penalty, he may choose to miss the vein on purpose to suspend the law?
Jeb is nuts.
Perchant on December 16, 2006 at 2:44 PM
27 years.
This smells fiashy to me, as well. Anyone have any info on the identity of the person(s) responsible for inserting the needles? Someone new on the job, someone anti-death penalty? I have absolutley no clue, just guessing.
Anyone have any figures on the cost of the lethal injection process? It must be astronomical, doctors, different drugs, anesthesia…
Not to mention 27 frikkin’ years.
How much for a handful of bullets?
reaganaut on December 16, 2006 at 2:45 PM
How wierd is that? Just as I am posting about a conspiracy, so are two other posters! Something stinks in Florida!!!!! Maybe one I.V. could be out of place, but two???????
bloggless on December 16, 2006 at 2:48 PM
It’s amazing that the American culture, so inundated with violence in entertainment, that they can’t stomach it when a CONVICTED murderer suffers a bit on his way to judgement.
If it’s cruel and unusual to go that way, one shot to the head is quick and merciful….Probably too merciful for revenge purposes.
Vanquisher on December 16, 2006 at 2:48 PM
Huh, just looked up the cost and it’s not much from $70-$90. But I did read where Indiana had a $300,000 lethal injection room built. $300,000!
Still, a few bullets and a brick wall are much cheaper.
The victims left this world violently, some suffering greatly – why do these monsters get to die in their sleep?
reaganaut on December 16, 2006 at 2:53 PM
Gas chamber anyone?
Plop plop fizz fizz
Oh what a relief it is
Buck Turgidson on December 16, 2006 at 2:53 PM
Something is off here. Did the guy die or does he get to live now? How interesting that a California judge has claimed that lethal injection is cruel and unusual.
bloggless on December 16, 2006 at 2:53 PM
I always wondered why we didnt use this method. It’s quick, painless and costs far less than lethal injections.
SnakeintheGrass on December 16, 2006 at 2:54 PM
I think part of it is, it’s tough on the guy pulling the trigger. I know if you’re on a firing squad you aren’t sure whether your gun is loaded or has blanks, but once you fire, you know what kind of round you had.
reaganaut on December 16, 2006 at 3:00 PM
According to some liberal rag at the time, I think it was the LA Times, the person is in a state of euphoria during dehydration/starvation.
So it’s certainly not cruel, nor is it unusual anymore. I can’t imagine libs would suddenly change their mind and decide there’s something cruel about letting a human being die that way.
Perchant on December 16, 2006 at 3:09 PM
Read them here folks. The words of a simpleton. Wish I could have seen them in a video vent. See if he’s got that Mrs. Malkin sarcastic sneer down yet.
And the commenters on this post are way out there too!
THeDRiFTeR on December 16, 2006 at 3:10 PM
Here we go again on rights for convicted (i.e., GUILTY) criminals, while totally forgetting victim’s rights. I guess the poor victims (and their families) have no rights at all.
What a country…
rmgraha on December 16, 2006 at 3:11 PM
I used to work in a kennel during summer break, and the vet would let me put I.V.’s in the dogs and cats who were being prepped for surgery. So if i could put I.V’s in dogs and cats who were squirming and trying to bite me when i was 14-15 years old, why are these grown men having so much trouble putting I.V’s in a person who is strapped to a table?
Sounds like they are probably opposed to the death penalty and doing this on purpose.
Scot on December 16, 2006 at 3:11 PM
Actually, it’s pretty easy. If you set the drop too short, the neck doesn’t break, and the guy slowly strangles to death (in Iran, they do that on purpose (Warning: potentially disturbing image)). If you set the drop too far, the guy is decapitated (no worse for him, but the public finds that unacceptable).
jic on December 16, 2006 at 3:21 PM
Cruel and unusual punishment?…torture?…yeah, right.
So it took 30 minutes indtead of 15 minutes for him to die. WHAT, He had to wait an additional 15 MINUTES? After 27 years? That must have been horrific. Unbelievably torturous to wait another 1/4 hour.
Maybe he had an additional chance to THINK ABOUT WHAT HE DID TO GET HIS ASS THERE!!!
Hey, weenies in Fl, find something else to bitch about, like moonlight rash or ?????????
shooter on December 16, 2006 at 3:23 PM
Go read this, for people that died with at leastlittle class…or wit.
shooter on December 16, 2006 at 3:25 PM
What’s wrong with the concept of eye for an eye? It’s a fair way of returning the crime to the criminal.
Guardian on December 16, 2006 at 3:27 PM
He was sleeping. What’s the problem? I would guess that dying in you sleep would be the preferred method for many people.
jman on December 16, 2006 at 3:28 PM
They won’t allow anyone with a medical license and has experience to start the IVs. If they do, the leftard AMA and other assoications threaten them with lost of their license. As far as the “chemical burn” — who cares? This was caused by the potassium. The murderer is already in a barbituate coma and doesn’t feel a thing.
EF on December 16, 2006 at 3:34 PM
I hear that Dr Kevorkian (a.k.a. Dr Death) is getting out of prison soon. Maybe he get get a job in Florida. I’m sure he would not botch it.
jman on December 16, 2006 at 3:37 PM
Starting the IV isn’t the issue. Making sure it is in the vein seems to have been the issue. Any idiot could make sure it is the vein. Set-up.
bloggless on December 16, 2006 at 3:39 PM
Whatever happened to practice makes perfect.
Buzzy on December 16, 2006 at 3:47 PM
Actually, it’s pretty easy. If you set the drop too short, the neck doesn’t break, and the guy slowly strangles to death (in Iran, they do that on purpose (Warning: potentially disturbing image)). If you set the drop too far, the guy is decapitated
Okay, how is this “messing up the hanging”? I’m good with both of these examples. Remember, this is someone who intentionally killed an innocent person. We’re not talking political disidents here.
rmgraha on December 16, 2006 at 4:04 PM
I’ve had a nurse need multiple attempts to start an IV on me before. Sometimes it happens. Maybe the guy’s veins are hard to find.
sandberg on December 16, 2006 at 4:10 PM
Confirming that the I.V. is in the vein is not a difficult thing to do. Starting an I.V. can be difficult, but once it is in, confirming that the I.V. is in the vein is very simple.
bloggless on December 16, 2006 at 4:13 PM
Not a botched headline! No, please, do it to her! Do it to her!
Kralizec on December 16, 2006 at 4:28 PM
I think before we suspend all executions we institute the electric bleachers death sentance and just light them all up like a big xmas tree
Defector01 on December 16, 2006 at 4:41 PM
Drifter, go away. I wish that the criminal would have given a rats behind to his victim. Of course you dont’ care about that do you? I think they should suffer and suffer greatly. Better yet, kill them in the manner they killed their victims. Put that up your a** and stuff it Drifter.
Catie96706 on December 16, 2006 at 5:39 PM
You sound like a lovely young lady there catie96706. Your parents must be very proud.
THeDRiFTeR on December 16, 2006 at 6:10 PM
I have to wonder, what do this Anti-DP folks think at night.
Now that must make a person proud….
Tim Burton on December 16, 2006 at 6:42 PM
Ian: don’t people who make comments like this get banned? I know I’ve seen it happen to others.
thedecider on December 16, 2006 at 6:49 PM
Ian, I know you probably can’t unbotch the headline as Kralizec notes, but maybe you can fix the duplicate sentence in the first paragraph of your quote. I felt like I was in some sort of time loop. Or is it some sort of meta-joke about botching? :)
Regarding the story, what bothers me is the amorphous nature of “Living Constitutionalism” where judges can redefine words as they see fit. Today it is going in the politically correct hypersensitive direction. Tomorrow?
Kevin on December 16, 2006 at 7:22 PM
Help me out here, folks. People going to surgery routinely get a gas mask placed over the face (not even the pain of a needle going in), and an anasthesiologist who carefully monitors the patient to make sure he doesn’t overdose and die.
So, if we skip the ‘careful’ part and gradually crank up the anasthesia, the condemned man simply goes to sleep, eventually stops breathing, and never feels a thing.
What’s wrong with my reasoning?
The Monster on December 16, 2006 at 7:48 PM
How about they hang them from a live wire, in front of a brick wall for the firing squad?
Chuck on December 16, 2006 at 8:40 PM
I tend to favor feeding them to a giant buzzsaw crotch-first, myself. But I’m old-fashioned that way.
Or you could use a giant laser, Goldfinger-style. I want to be the guy that gets to say “No, Mr. Diaz, I expect you to die!”, though.
ReubenJCogburn on December 16, 2006 at 9:00 PM
I am SOOOOO never pissing you off
Defector01 on December 16, 2006 at 9:47 PM
He’s dead, so how can it be a botched execution? 15 minutes, 20 minutes… dead is dead. Waiting 27 years was the mistake.
arteest on December 17, 2006 at 3:40 AM
Nothing. That’s pretty much what they are doing with lethal injection anyway. The problem is that the people who are objectining to the method are against all capital punishment — not just capital punishment they see as inhumane. No matter what method is employed, they will object to it and find someway to delay or stop the process. In the California case, the parents of the victim are elderly and ill. They want to see this ahole die.
EF on December 17, 2006 at 11:23 AM
Sounds very much like a passage from Infinite Jest.
mikeyboss on December 17, 2006 at 12:00 PM
Amen to that! – Thank God for Jeb – he’ll make sure that they’re not in pain when his criminals die.
Too bad Jeb didn’t care as much about their victims, isn’t it?
Notice, though, how no one usually seems to care much about the victims of these murderers or the families they leave behind? No liberal caring people there for them.
But then, they’re already dead and don’t make good news copy, do they?
Only in America could we collectively care more about murderers than murder victims.
Says something, doesn’t it?
Emmett J. on December 17, 2006 at 10:00 PM
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