Ohio: Debate over death penalty methods continues

Recently a convicted Ohio killer was executed by a new one-drug intravenous lethal injection.

The new method in the Buckeye state involves a large dose of anesthetic, similar to how animals are euthanized.

The Ohio method has been praised by most experts as painless.

Death penalty opponents still opposed this most recent execution as the equivalent of "human experimentation."

Despite attempts by the opponents to stop this innovation, the United States Supreme Court refused to intervene and the new method went as planned.

Opponents criticized the latest method based on the fact its backup plan of using intramuscular injection if the authorities are unable to find a usable vein as not yet being properly tested by legal and medical experts.

Terry Collins, director of the Ohio Department of Corrections, said the drug took about 10 minutes to take effect, roughly the same length of time as the 3-drug cocktail used in Texas.

The inmate Kenneth Biros, 51, died after it took the execution team about 30 minutes to find a usable vein. Biros was convicted of stabbing to death Terri Engstrom, 22, after sexually assaulting her. Experts estimated he stabbed her more than 90 times during the brutal slaughter.

Wichita County District Attorney Barry Macha has successfully prosecuted at least 4 capital murder death penalty cases from Wichita Falls.

The Texas method of lethal injection includes a short-acting barbiturate to render the inmate unconscious, followed by a paralytic and then a chemical to stop the heart.

The Texas lethal injection was approved by the United States Supreme Court last year in case involving the State of Kentucky which uses a 3-drug cocktail similar to that of Texas.

Lethal injection was turned to in Texas as more humane than other methods such as hanging, the electric chair, the gas chamber and the firing squad.

For Biros, it was the 2nd trip to the death chamber. He spent a day and a night there in 2007 as his lawyers successfully delayed his execution based on a challenge to lethal injection.

"The key is due process," said Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center in Washington. He explained that when New York introduced the electric chair in 1890, the case went to the Supreme Court, which decided that the punishment might be more humane than hanging.

Source: Wichita Falls Law Examiner, March 29, 2010