COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio executions have been put on
hold for 2 1/2 months after a federal judge said he wanted to hear
arguments over the state’s new lethal injection procedures.
The
temporary order delays executions scheduled for July and August while
attorneys prepare filings about the state’s decision to boost the
dosages of its lethal injection drugs.
The one-page order by
Columbus federal judge Gregory Frost on Tuesday affects the state’s
latest death penalty policy change, which was announced in late April.
Ohio uses two drugs injected simultaneously in executions. The policy
change considerably increases the amount of the sedative and raises the
amount of the painkiller.
The procedure update followed the Jan.
16 execution of Dennis McGuire, who repeatedly gasped during the record
26 minutes it took him to die.
The state said in April it was
making the changes "to allay any remaining concerns" after McGuire’s
execution, though it stood by the way McGuire was put to death.
The
Department of Rehabilitation and Correction said its review of
McGuire’s execution determined he was asleep and unconscious a few
minutes after the drugs were administered and his execution was
conducted in a constitutional manner.
"He did not experience pain,
distress or air hunger after the drugs were administered or when the
bodily movements and sounds occurred," the state said.
Frost’s
order delays the July 2 execution of Ronald Phillips, sentenced to die
for the rape and death of Sheila Marie Evans, his girlfriend’s
3-year-old daughter, in Akron in 1993. Phillips last execution date was
also delayed as he unsuccessfully requested to donate organs to his
family members.
The order also delays the Aug. 6 execution of
William Montgomery, who shot 20-year-old Debra Ogle and her 19-year-old
roommate Cynthia Tincher on or around March 8, 1986.
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