Tennessee is preparing to execute a convicted prisoner despite a botched injection administered to another inmate
The execution of 66-year-old Darrell Gains, convicted of the 1985 murder of Catherine Jean Jackson Jenkins, is scheduled for Thursday in Tennessee. The execution is set to proceed despite criticism following a botched lethal injection attempt on another inmate in May, according to The Guardian.
Gaines, who maintains his innocence, has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene in the case. His lawyers believe that, due to his health condition, he may face problems similar to those that arose during the botched execution of Tony Carruthers on May 21. Jenkins worked as a housekeeper at a motel and was the mother of four children; her family has called for the execution to proceed.
According to Caruthers’ attorney, Maria DeLiberato, in a court filing, the medical team and a doctor spent about one hour and 15 minutes trying to establish an intravenous line to administer the lethal drugs. She stated that members of the team punctured the condemned man’s body more than a dozen times while he moaned in pain. Ultimately, the prison warden halted the procedure, and Tennessee Governor Bill Lee granted Carruthers a one-year reprieve.
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Gaines’ defense team submitted medical reports stating that, following recent strokes, he suffers from significant muscle atrophy and stiffness in his arm, causing his hand to remain clenched into a fist. According to his attorneys, he is mostly bedridden or uses a wheelchair. In their view, these circumstances could complicate the establishment of intravenous access.
Execution procedures in Tennessee are shrouded in secrecy, and the process for obtaining, storing, and administering lethal injection drugs remains unclear. Gaines’s attorneys asked the Department of Corrections whether officials had checked the drugs’ expiration dates, quality, and storage conditions. According to the publication, the state did not respond to these inquiries. Governor Lee also denied Gaines’s petition for clemency and refused to stay the executions.
In June, nine Republican senators from Tennessee who support the death penalty appealed to the governor to conduct an independent investigation into the botched execution of Carruthers. They called for an investigation into whether the execution team was properly qualified, as well as for an independent review of the drugs used prior to future executions.
