Georgia judge considers constitutionality of lethal injections

LAWRENCEVILLE - According to defense attorneys, a Gwinnett County judge is the first in Georgia to consider the constitutionality of lethal injections since the state quit using the electric chair in October. <br> <br> Defense attorneys are asking Superior Court Judge Michael Clark to declare lethal injections unconstitutional, saying they are error prone and can leave prisoners paralyzed but conscious during a painful death. <br> <br> Regardless of how Clark rules, his decision will enable the case to be appealed. <br> <br> A prison official who works on Georgia&#39;s death row testified in the case yesterday about complications in two of the six executions performed in Georgia by lethal injection. <br> <br> Terry Duffey, deputy warden for security at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison at Jackson, recalled the executions of convicted killers Jose High in November 2001 and Ronald Keith Spivey in January 2002. <br> <br> Duffy said, ``Jose High told me it was going to be like a treasure hunt finding a vein.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Duffy said High tried to help the medical team find a vein that wasn&#39;t covered in scar tissue from his drug use. <br> <br> Prison officials had to administer a second dose of drugs to ensure the 348-pound Spivey was dead. Duffey said Spivey was likely dead from the first round, but prison officials wanted to see his vitals ``flat line&#39;&#39; to be sure. <br> <br> Defense attorneys Michael Mears and Matthew Rubenstein are with the Multi-County Public Defenders Office, a state-funded agency that helps defend suspects in death penalty cases. Both are helping Gwinnett lawyers who want to appeal the death penalty for convicted bank robber and killer, Michael Wade Nance.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/5/195234