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Ohio can again try to execute man after failed attempt: court
Death row inmate Romell Broom is seen in an undated picture from the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.
REUTERS/ OHIO DEPARTMENT OF REHABILITATION AND CORRECTION/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS
The Ohio Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that the state could again try to execute convicted killer Romell Broom after failing to do so seven years ago.
In a 4-3 ruling written by Justice Judith Lanzinger, the court said the state would not violate the U.S. Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment or double jeopardy by executing Broom, a Cleveland man sentenced to death for murdering 14-year-old Tryna Middleton in 1984.
If Broom is put to death, he would be the first person on which a second execution has been attempted in the United States since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
Broom’s attorney, Adele Shank, said she had not yet read the full court opinion but was disappointed and would not rule out appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court due to the case's Constitutional issues.
No new date has been set for Broom’s execution.
There have been eight executions in the United States so far this year, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Last year, there were 28 executions, the fewest since 1991. A legal fight over drugs used in a series of botched lethal injections has contributed to the continued decline in the number of executions.
Ohio's execution of Broom in 2009 was called off after two hours when officials failed 18 times to attach intravenous needles to administer the chemicals used in the process.
Broom's lawyers appealed, saying a second attempt violated the 8th Amendment's cruel and unusual punishment statute and the 5th Amendment's right against double jeopardy.
In April 2011, a Cuyahoga County court found that repeated needle sticks were "unpleasant" but not in violation of Broom's constitutional rights. Broom then appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court.
Lanzinger agreed with the lower court. “There is no question that lethal drugs did not enter Broom’s body,” she wrote. "The execution attempt was halted after preparations to establish a viable IV line were unsuccessful."
In dissent, Justice Judith L. French stated: “If the state cannot explain why the Broom execution went wrong, then the state cannot guarantee that the outcome would be different the next time.”
Ohio in 2015 delayed all scheduled executions until 2017 due to the difficulty obtaining the drugs needed for lethal injections. One of 31 U.S. states with the death penalty, it has not executed an inmate since January 2014 and had planned 11 executions in 2016.
(Reporting by Kim Palmer, Editing by Ben Klayman, G Crosse and Alan Crosby)
Ohio can again try to execute man after failed attempt: court| Reuters
@TOPIC: I don't see human rights organization speaking about this and also about capital punishment in the U.S in general but when it comes to Saudi Arabia they jump the gun. Total hypocrisy.
Death row inmate Romell Broom is seen in an undated picture from the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.
REUTERS/ OHIO DEPARTMENT OF REHABILITATION AND CORRECTION/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS
The Ohio Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that the state could again try to execute convicted killer Romell Broom after failing to do so seven years ago.
In a 4-3 ruling written by Justice Judith Lanzinger, the court said the state would not violate the U.S. Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment or double jeopardy by executing Broom, a Cleveland man sentenced to death for murdering 14-year-old Tryna Middleton in 1984.
If Broom is put to death, he would be the first person on which a second execution has been attempted in the United States since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
Broom’s attorney, Adele Shank, said she had not yet read the full court opinion but was disappointed and would not rule out appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court due to the case's Constitutional issues.
No new date has been set for Broom’s execution.
There have been eight executions in the United States so far this year, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Last year, there were 28 executions, the fewest since 1991. A legal fight over drugs used in a series of botched lethal injections has contributed to the continued decline in the number of executions.
Ohio's execution of Broom in 2009 was called off after two hours when officials failed 18 times to attach intravenous needles to administer the chemicals used in the process.
Broom's lawyers appealed, saying a second attempt violated the 8th Amendment's cruel and unusual punishment statute and the 5th Amendment's right against double jeopardy.
In April 2011, a Cuyahoga County court found that repeated needle sticks were "unpleasant" but not in violation of Broom's constitutional rights. Broom then appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court.
Lanzinger agreed with the lower court. “There is no question that lethal drugs did not enter Broom’s body,” she wrote. "The execution attempt was halted after preparations to establish a viable IV line were unsuccessful."
In dissent, Justice Judith L. French stated: “If the state cannot explain why the Broom execution went wrong, then the state cannot guarantee that the outcome would be different the next time.”
Ohio in 2015 delayed all scheduled executions until 2017 due to the difficulty obtaining the drugs needed for lethal injections. One of 31 U.S. states with the death penalty, it has not executed an inmate since January 2014 and had planned 11 executions in 2016.
(Reporting by Kim Palmer, Editing by Ben Klayman, G Crosse and Alan Crosby)
Ohio can again try to execute man after failed attempt: court| Reuters
@TOPIC: I don't see human rights organization speaking about this and also about capital punishment in the U.S in general but when it comes to Saudi Arabia they jump the gun. Total hypocrisy.