Execution of Joseph Wood

Last updated

Joseph Wood
Joseph Wood from Arizona.jpg
Mugshot of Wood
Born
Joseph Rudolph Wood III

(1958-12-06)December 6, 1958 [1]
DiedJuly 23, 2014(2014-07-23) (aged 55)
Cause of death Botched execution by lethal injection
Conviction(s) First degree murder (2 counts)
Aggravated assault (2 counts)
Criminal penalty Death by lethal injection plus 15 years in prison (July 2, 1991)
Details
VictimsDebra Dietz, 29
Eugene Dietz, 55 [2]

Joseph Rudolph Wood III was an American convicted murderer executed on July 23, 2014, at Florence State Prison in Arizona, with a two-hour lethal injection procedure that was described as "botched". [3] Wood gasped and snorted for an hour and fifty-seven minutes after the drugs were injected, and the entire procedure took almost two hours; experts said the execution should have taken about ten minutes. [3]

Contents

Background

Wood had been convicted of murder and assault after shooting dead his estranged girlfriend 29-year-old Debra Dietz and her father, 55-year-old Eugene Dietz, on August 7, 1989. [4] [5] Wood was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated assault against a police officer. He was sentenced to death for each murder and received 15-year prison sentences, set to run concurrently, for the aggravated assault convictions. [6]

Wood was scheduled to be executed with a combination of midazolam and hydromorphone, which had been used only once previously for the January 2014 execution of Dennis McGuire in Ohio. [7] McGuire's execution had also been described as "botched" due to McGuire appearing to snort, gasp, and convulse during a procedure that lasted 25 minutes. [8] [9] From 1890 to 2010, the rate of botched [lower-alpha 1] lethal injections in the United States was 7.1%, higher than any other form of execution, with firing squads at 0%, the electric chair at 1.9%, hanging at 3.1%, and the gas chamber at 5.4%. [10]

Execution

The execution began at 1:52 p.m. MST and ended at 3:49 p.m. when Wood was pronounced dead. It involved injecting Wood with the drug cocktail of midazolam, a sedative, and hydromorphone, a semi-synthetic opioid, [11] each at a dose such that a single application of both drugs was supposed to be sufficient to kill him. Wood had to be dosed 15 times, [12] during which he gasped and snorted for well over one hour, [13] a media witness comparing Wood's breathing to a "fish gulping for air". [14] One Associated Press reporter said Wood gasped more than 600 times. Experts stated that the execution should have taken about ten minutes. [3]

Wood's lawyers filed an emergency appeal with the Supreme Court an hour into the procedure, requesting that the prolonged execution be halted. In the motion, they wrote: "He has been gasping and snorting for more than an hour. ... He is still alive." The appeal was denied by Justice Anthony Kennedy, with word coming half an hour after Wood's death. [3]

After the execution, Debra Dietz's sister told the Associated Press: "What I saw today with him being executed, it is nothing compared to what happened on August 7, 1989," Jeanne Brown said, referring to Wood's murder of her father and sister on that date. "What's excruciating is seeing your father lying there in a pool of blood, seeing your sister lying in a pool of blood." [15]

Aftermath

Governor Jan Brewer ordered a review of the state's execution procedures, citing concern with the length of time it took Wood to die. [2] Regarding the execution, Brewer said: "One thing is certain, however, inmate Wood died in a lawful manner and by eyewitness and medical accounts he did not suffer. This is in stark comparison to the gruesome, vicious suffering that he inflicted on his two victims and the lifetime of suffering he has caused their family." [16]

Charles Ryan, director of Arizona's department of corrections, said in a statement: "Once the inmate was sedated, other than sonorous respiration, or snoring, he did not grimace or make any further movement. Throughout this execution, I conferred and collaborated with our IV team members and was assured unequivocally that the inmate was comatose and never in pain or distress."

Stephanie Grisham, then a spokeswoman for the Arizona attorney general's office, who was also a witness, said: "There was no gasping of air. There was snoring. He just [lay] there. It was quite peaceful." [17] [18]

Dale Baich, Wood's public defender, decried the execution as a violation of the Constitution's prohibition of "cruel and unusual punishment", and said it could have been prevented. [13]

On July 24, 2014, Arizona temporarily halted executions following the Wood case, pending a review of its procedures. [19]

Executions did not resume in Arizona for eight years until June 8, 2022, when Clarence Dixon was executed for raping and murdering a 21-year-old woman. [20]

See also

Notes

  1. Professor Austin Sarat of Amherst College defines a "botched" execution as one where "the executioners departed from official legal protocol or standard operating procedure". [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lethal injection</span> Form of execution involving injection of chemicals into the bloodstream

Lethal injection is the practice of injecting one or more drugs into a person for the express purpose of causing rapid death. The main application for this procedure is capital punishment, but the term may also be applied in a broader sense to include euthanasia and other forms of suicide. The drugs cause the person to become unconscious, stops their breathing, and causes a heart arrhythmia, in that order.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital punishment in the United States</span> Killing a person as punishment for allegedly committing a crime

In the United States, capital punishment is a legal penalty throughout the country at the federal level, in 27 states, and in American Samoa. It is also a legal penalty for some military offenses. Capital punishment has been abolished in 23 states and in the federal capital, Washington, D.C. It is usually applied for only the most serious crimes, such as aggravated murder. Although it is a legal penalty in 27 states, 19 of them have authority to execute death sentences, with the other 8, as well as the federal government and military, subject to moratoriums.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital punishment in Ohio</span>

Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Ohio, although all executions have been suspended indefinitely by Governor Mike DeWine until a replacement for lethal injection is chosen by the Ohio General Assembly. The last execution in the state was in July 2018, when Robert J. Van Hook was executed via lethal injection for murder.

Arizona State Prison Complex – Florence also known as Florence State Prison (FSP) is a former facility operated by the Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC). The main FSP prison was located in Florence, Arizona. The Florence complex used to include a unit in Picacho in unincorporated Pinal County however, the Picacho Unit was closed and destroyed in early 2013. The Globe Unit in Globe is now part of ASPC-Phoenix.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ángel Nieves Díaz</span> Puerto Rican convict executed by lethal injection

Ángel Nieves Díaz was a Puerto Rican convict and a suspected serial killer who was executed by lethal injection by Florida. Nieves, who had escaped from a prison in Puerto Rico while serving time for murder, was convicted of shooting and killing the manager of a strip club in Florida in 1979. He maintained his innocence until his death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison</span> Mens prison in Georgia, United States

Opened in 1969, Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison (GDCP) is a Georgia Department of Corrections prison for men in unincorporated Butts County, Georgia, near Jackson. The prison holds the state execution chamber. The execution equipment was moved to the prison in June 1980, with the first execution in the facility occurring on December 15, 1983. The prison houses the male death row, while female death row inmates reside in Arrendale State Prison.

Romell Broom was an American death row inmate who was convicted of murder, kidnapping and rape. He was sentenced to death for the 1984 murder of 14-year-old Tryna Middleton. Broom was scheduled to be executed on September 15, 2009, but after executioners failed to locate a vein he was granted a reprieve. A second execution attempt was scheduled for June 2020, which was delayed until March 2022. Broom died from COVID-19 in prison before the sentence could be carried out.

Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Arizona. After the execution of Joseph Wood in 2014, executions were temporarily suspended but resumed in 2022. On January 23, 2023, newly inaugurated governor Katie Hobbs ordered a review of death penalty protocols and in light of that, newly inaugurated attorney general Kris Mayes issued a hold on any executions in the state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Execution of Clayton Lockett</span> Botched execution in Oklahoma

The death of Clayton Derrell Lockett occurred on April 29, 2014, when he suffered a heart attack during an execution by lethal injection in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Lockett, aged 38, was convicted in 2000 of murder, rape, and kidnapping.

Glossip v. Gross, 576 U.S. 863 (2015), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held, 5–4, that lethal injections using midazolam to kill prisoners convicted of capital crimes do not constitute cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Court found that condemned prisoners can only challenge their method of execution after providing a known and available alternative method.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scott Dozier</span> American murderer (1970–2019)

Scott Raymond Dozier was a convicted American murderer on death row in Nevada for the 2002 murder of 22-year-old Jeremiah Miller, who was one of Dozier's drug associates. He would have been the first inmate executed by the state of Nevada in more than a decade, but died by suicide in prison before this could take place after a lengthy battle to carry out his death sentence by the state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Execution of Robert Van Hook</span> Last execution by the state of Ohio via lethal injection in 2018

The execution of Robert Van Hook occurred on July 18, 2018, at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, Ohio. Van Hook was executed via lethal injection for the 1985 murder of 25-year-old David Self. His case achieved notoriety because of his failed gay panic defense. Ultimately, his conviction was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court and Governor John Kasich of Ohio rejected his bids for clemency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Execution of Dennis McGuire</span> Botched execution in Ohio

The execution of Dennis McGuire occurred on January 16, 2014, at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, Ohio, in what was considered to be a botched execution. McGuire was executed via lethal injection using a new combination of untried and untested drugs: midazolam and hydromorphone. During the execution, witnesses reported that McGuire could be seen struggling to breathe, and reportedly gasped loudly while making snorting and choking sounds for at least ten minutes. It took over twenty-five minutes for McGuire to die, in a process that should normally take just over eight minutes.

James Emery Paster and Stephen Albert McCoy were American serial killers who murdered at least three people in Texas between 1980 and 1981. Both were sentenced to death and executed at the Huntsville Unit in Huntsville, Texas, via lethal injection. Prior to Emery's execution, he confessed to two other murders in the Houston area, but he was never tried for either of these killings. McCoy was executed in May 1989, in what was considered a botched execution. Emery was executed in September 1989.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Execution of John Grant</span> 2021 execution by the state of Oklahoma

The execution of John Grant took place in the U.S. state of Oklahoma by means of lethal injection. Grant was sentenced to death for the 1998 murder of prison cafeteria worker Gay Carter.

Clarence Wayne Dixon was an American convicted murderer. He was convicted of the January 7, 1978, murder of 21-year-old Deana Lynne Bowdoin in Tempe, Arizona. The murder went unsolved until 2001, when DNA profiling linked him to the crime. Dixon, who was serving a life sentence for a 1986 sexual assault conviction, was found guilty of Bowdoin's murder and was formally sentenced to death on January 24, 2008. He was executed by lethal injection on May 11, 2022, in the state's first execution in nearly eight years, since the botched execution of Joseph Wood in 2014.

<i>Glossip v. Chandler</i> United States federal court case

Glossip v. Chandler is a United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma case in which the plaintiffs challenged the State of Oklahoma's execution protocol. The initial lawsuit, Glossip v. Gross, rose to the United States Supreme Court in 2015 at the preliminary injunction stage and involved an earlier version of Oklahoma's lethal injection protocol. The case was reopened in the District Court in 2020 following an end to Oklahoma's moratorium on executions.

References

  1. "Joseph R. Wood III". The Arizona Republic. September 4, 2003. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
  2. 1 2 "Arizona Inmate Dies 2 Hours After Execution Begins". The Associated Press. July 23, 2014. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Hannon, Elliot (July 23, 2014). "Arizona Man Gasps and Snorts During Lethal Injection Execution That Took Nearly Two Hours". Slate. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
  4. Kiefer, Michael (July 22, 2014). "Supreme Court lifts stay of Arizona execution". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
  5. Chappell, Bill (July 23, 2014). "Arizona Execution Of Inmate Takes Nearly Two Hours". NPR. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
  6. "STATE v. WOOD | 180 Ariz. 53 (1994) | 0ariz531222". Leagle.com. October 11, 1994. Retrieved August 12, 2022.
  7. Berman, Mark (July 23, 2014). "Arizona execution lasts nearly two hours, witness says Joseph Wood was 'gasping and struggling to breathe'". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
  8. Serwer, Adam (July 23, 2014). "Another botched execution, this time in Arizona". MSNBC. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
  9. Ford, Dana; Fantz, Ashley (January 17, 2014). "Controversial execution in Ohio uses new drug combination". CNN. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
  10. 1 2 Siegelbaum, Debbie (July 31, 2014). "America's 'inexorably' botched executions". BBC News. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
  11. Ortega, Bob (July 14, 2014). "Execution of Arizona murderer takes nearly 2 hours". The Republic. Retrieved October 5, 2016.
  12. Serwer, Adam (August 2, 2014). "Lethal drugs injected 15 times in botched Arizona execution". MSNBC . Retrieved August 2, 2014.
  13. 1 2 Connor, Tracy (July 23, 2014). "Arizona Execution of Joseph Wood Took Nearly Two Hours". NBC. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
  14. Ford, Dana; Watts, Amanda; Hanna, Jason (July 23, 2014). "Inmate gasped, snorted during two-hour execution". CNN. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
  15. Dart, Tom (July 24, 2014). "'Judge, I just learned that the IV team leader has confirmed Mr Wood's death'". The Guardian . Retrieved May 11, 2022.
  16. "Arizona execution takes two hours". BBC News. July 23, 2014. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
  17. Srikrishnan, Matt Pearce, Cindy Carcamo, Maya (July 24, 2014). "Arizona killer takes 2 hours to die, fueling lethal-injection debate – Los Angeles Times". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved October 17, 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  18. "It's Time to End Our State-Sponsored Barbarism". esquire.com. July 24, 2014. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
  19. "Arizona halts executions after Joseph Wood case". BBC News. July 24, 2014. Retrieved July 25, 2014.
  20. Davenport, Paul; Billeaud, Jacques (May 11, 2022). "Clarence Dixon dies in Arizona's 1st execution since 2014". Associated Press. Retrieved May 11, 2022.
Executions carried out in Arizona
Preceded by
Robert Jones Jr.
October 23, 2013
Joseph Rudolph Wood III
July 23, 2014
Succeeded by
Clarence Dixon
May 11, 2022
Executions carried out in the United States
Preceded by
John Middleton – Missouri
July 16, 2014
Joseph Rudolph Wood III – Arizona
July 23, 2014
Succeeded by
Michael Worthington – Missouri
August 6, 2014