Missouri Inmate Asks for Execution to be Videotaped to Show State's 'Confidence' in Procedure
A Missouri inmate scheduled for execution on Wednesday, May 21, has asked to have his execution videotaped in order to show the truth about the procedure. Russell Bucklew has a unique medical condition that he, and his lawyers, feel will complicate the execution and have asked for either a stay or to have the procedure videotaped.
"If Missouri officials are confident enough to execute Russell Bucklew, they should be confident enough to videotape it. It is time to raise the curtain on lethal injections," Cheryl A. Pilate, one of Bucklew's attorneys said.
"Mr. Bucklew seeks this Order so he can preserve vital evidence of the events occurring during his execution. His head, neck, throat and brain are filled with clumps of weak, malformed blood vessels that could rupture, causing coughing, choking and suffocation, or impairing the circulation of the lethal drug, causing a prolonged and excruciating execution while he struggles for air. Mr. Bucklew seeks to document these events," the order from Bucklew's attorneys reads.
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Bucklew suffers from "severe hypertension" and a "large vascular mass" which distorts his airway and will make administering the drugs difficult. Dr. Joel B. Zivot, and anesthesiologist, has also filed paperwork stating his concern that the airway could "tear or rupture" and he could suffer unimaginable pain.
"The bottom line is that there is no way to proceed with Mr. Bucklew's execution without a substantial risk to Mr. Bucklew of suffering grave adverse events during the execution, including hemorrhaging, suffocating, or experiencing excruciating pain," Dr. Zivot added.
It will be the first execution since the fiasco in Oklahoma that ended in an unsuccessful execution that took an additional, and unplanned, 43 minutes for the inmate to die. Another inmate in Oklahoma that was scheduled to be executed was given a stay after the botched execution, and an execution scheduled in Texas was also put on hold after the Oklahoma ordeal. But Missouri is planning to carry out its execution as scheduled, unless a court rules otherwise.
