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Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Ind. Decisions - Judge Young denies challenge to Indiana's lethal-injection procedures [Updated]

Jon Murray reports in the Indianapolis Star this evening:

A U.S. District Court judge late this afternoon ruled against a Death Row inmate's request for an injunction delaying his execution as he sues to challenge Indiana's lethal injection procedures.

Judge Richard L. Young rejected inmate David Leon Woods' request on the grounds the lawsuit by three Death Row inmates has little chance of success.

Woods, 42, faces execution early Friday morning for the 1984 stabbing death of his 77-year-old neighbor, Juan Placencia, in Garrett, a town north of Fort Wayne.

"Woods has not shown the existence of irreparable harm through the mere possibility that some unforseen complication will result in a lingering death causing Woods to suffer unnecessary pain," Young wrote in a 12-page ruling.

Also, Young wrote, Woods waited too long to challenge the lethal injection process. Attorneys for the three inmates argue the three-drug cocktail used by Indiana, the lack of medically trained personnel and and inadequate monitoring create the risk of unnecessary pain, amounting to cruel and unusual punishment.

The ILB has obtained a copy of Judge Young's denial of the request for a preliminary injunction, which would be, as the Judge concludes, "the functional equivalent in the present circumstances of a stay of execution." Access it here.

[Update 5/2/07] Here is the AP's Tom Coyne's coverage of the decision by Judge Young. From the story:

Woods' attorney, Linda Wagoner, said she would appeal Young's ruling to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago. * * *

Woods contends that the state Department of Correction's execution protocol constitutes cruel and unusual punishment and "creates a substantial and unnecessary risk that Woods will be fully conscious and in agonizing pain for the duration of the execution process."

The state filed a motion on April 24 seeking a summary judgment, asking Young to find that Woods had failed to exhaust his administrative remedies with the state, that his statute of limitation to challenge the lethal injection protocol had passed and that "there is no genuine issue of material fact in this cause."

Woods won a partial victory yesterday when Young rejected the state's argument that Woods had failed to exhaust his available administrative remedies in challenging the method the state uses to administer lethal injections. Hours later, though, Young denied Woods' preliminary injunction request.

Woods also is waiting to hear from Gov. Mitch Daniels on his request for clemency. The Indiana Parole Board recommend unanimously not to recommend clemency for Woods.

His attorneys also have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to block the execution, challenging the state Supreme Court's method of determining whether he is mentally retarded.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on May 1, 2007 10:21 PM
Posted to Ind. Trial Ct. Decisions