United States Fifth Circuit

In a 42 U.S.C. section 1983 action alleging that Texas' method for lethal injection violated plaintiff-death row inmate's right to be free of cruel and unusual punishment, summary judgment for defendants is affirmed where: 1) difficulty in starting an IV in the arm of inmates who had destroyed their veins through drug use was not indicative of a failure to adhere to the execution procedure; 2) there were no constitutional issues with regard to the monitoring of the inmate's appearance for visible signs that the inmate was awake following a sodium thiopental injection; and 3) plaintiff failed to establish that the Texas lethal injection protocol created a demonstrated risk of severe pain.

Appellate Information

• Decided 03/15/2010
• Published 03/16/2010

Judges

Court

• United States Fifth Circuit

Counsel