Lawyer: Execution Attempt Was 'Gory, Botched'
By Rob Quinn , Newser Staff
'They gave up when they could not find a vein'
(Newser) – When the execution of Doyle Lee Hamm was called off last week, the Alabama Department of Corrections said it was because it didn't have time to prepare the inmate before a midnight death warrant expired. "I wouldn't necessarily characterize what we had tonight as a problem," claimed prison commissioner Jeff Dunn early Friday, saying it had only been a "time issue." A lawyer for the 61-year-old inmate, however, says the state is actually talking about a "gory, botched execution" that made a bloody mess of the death chamber and the inmate himself, Reuters reports. "They gave up when they could not find a vein," says Columbia Law School professor Bernard Harcourt. He says two sets of medical personnel worked on Hamm at the same time, trying to find a usable vein in his legs or groin.
The lawyer says an IV team almost certainly hit Hamm's bladder, and probably "hit his femoral artery as well, because suddenly there was a lot of blood gushing out," NBC reports. "There were multiple puncture wounds on the ankles, calf, and right groin area, around a dozen." In recent court filings, Harcourt argued that terminal cancer, hepatitis, and prior drug use would make it difficult and painful to execute Hamm, who was sentenced to die for killing a motel clerk during a 1987 robbery, the AP reports. He says he warned that it would be "tortuous and bloody and they wouldn't succeed." The incident is being reviewed by a federal court and a judge has ordered the state to preserve evidence, including Hamm's bloodied clothes. Alabama hasn't said whether it will seek a new execution date.
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Personally I am pro-death penalty in extreme cases (rape/murder of a child, murder of a LEO, mass or serial murder, etc), but if this guy has terminal cancer already and they knew it would be very, very difficult to find a vein, then why bother? Besides if it went as badly as his lawyer says there is no way they can try again as he has an obvious case of cruel and unusual punishment from the botched attempt.
He deserves to be pardoned and allowed to die a free man after what he suffered.
Why is that? Is the person he murdered able to enjoy the same freedom of movement? I'm not sure they should try again, but releasing him is a slap in the face to the family of the victim and the victim's memory.
I think it would depend on if a court would say he had actually been tortured. Not trying again is one thing and I may agree in spirit, but releasing him is not a reality.
Executing him would not bring the victim back either, or didn't you notice that fact? He has terminal cancer and survived the botched execution., He should be able to die at home in peace after what he has suffered.
Like his victims did? Oh wait!
As far as I am concerned he should die slowly and painfully
Why? Do his victims get to walk around as free people?
Cancer is slow and painful.
Didn't you say that you were a Christian?
Then it a good thing he has it. He can die in his cage in prison.
Where?
I can see life without parole, but pardoned, oh hell No.
He has terminal cancer and will be dead in a few months. Paroling him is the humane course after what he suffered.
The death penalty should be abolished.
I wonder if the prison has a hospice care center? If he can be deemed by a court to be very close to death and harmless I could see moving him out of prison to a hospice that is willing to take him.
Doyle Lee Hamm put a gun to the temple of hotel clerk Patrick Cunningham as he lay on the floor, and executed him. Afterward, Hamm took a piddlin' amount of cash from the register, and then took his dead victim's wallet.
Patrick Cunningham was a married father of two, trying to support his family as best he could. Here is what kind of man he was: There was a young woman checking into the hotel moments before the murder and robbery took place. Something about the demeanor of two men walking toward office from the parking lot prompted him to tell the young woman that it looked like there was going to be trouble, and motioned for her to quickly go to her room. She walked out with her head down, but instinctively chose to go to her car, instead. She watched for a moment, and when she saw one of the men raise the gun and point it at the clerk, she quickly drove to the nearest telephone and called police. Considering that Hamm and his accomplice, Douglas Roden, had robbed and murdered another person in Mississippi earlier that day (it was later determined that the gun stolen from that robbery was the gun used to murder Patrick), I think it is fair to say that Patrick Cunningham saved Kathy Flanagan's life that evening. That's the kind of man he was.
No disrespect intended to you epistte, but when Patrick Cunningham is no longer dead, I'll agree that Doyle Hamm should 'be pardoned and allowed to die a free man after what he suffered'...right after he stands trial for the murder/robbery he committed in Mississippi.
Sister Mary answer your email
I'm sorry but his victim did not get the humane recourse so why should he?
Executing him won't bring the victim back. The state should have never attempted to execute him because of the terminal cancer diagnosis, but they did and the state screwed up. He survived that botched procedure and because of that, he deserves to die a free man because of the state's wrongful actions. If he didn't have terminal cancer then he should be given life without parole instead of trying to execute him again, but the fact that he has terminal cancer then the least that the state can do it to let him die in peace with his family beside of him. If you are worried about him committing a crime after he is released on humanitarian grounds, then mandate house arrest and an ankle bracelet until he is bedridden.
The death penalty is barbaric and should be abolished. Capital punishment is not about getting justice for the victims but instead, it is giving in to our basest emotions and wrongfully seeking revenge. The death penalty is not a deterrent to crime, it is more expensive than life without parole when the necessary appeals are considered and innocent people have been executed. The death penalty gives the states too much power to kill its own citizens, so any libertarian should be appalled at the idea. You can't claim to be a Christian and support the death penalty because Jesus taught that an eye for an eye was wrong.
Yep. It's one big reason the EU countries view the US as rather primitive.
Don't be obtuse. Defending yourself from an imminent threat isn't close to being the same as state-sponsored revenge. The prisoner isn't an imminent threat to you while in prison.
It's called justice. May the punishment fit the crime. I cannot understand people who want to coddle and idolize evil killers.
Then you won't have a problem when this man dies of terminal cancer.
Their sense of revenge does determine the punishment or we would devolve into a country of vigilantes seeking the death penalty for shoplifting.
I for one won't shed a tear. I would hope that they would deny him any pain meds though.
Does watching others suffer needlessly give you the warm fuzzies?
Nope but have no sympathy and no compassion for low life scumbag cold blooded murders. I feel me sympathy for a rabid dog .
It's not a question of compassion. If they try it again and it doesn't work, as it likely won't considering they tied a dozen times to find a vein and stuck him in his bladder and femoral artery that amounts to torture and this is the United States of America. We do not torture people. We just do not. Now if they come up with another way to execute him that is legal in their state then fine, but if lethal injection is all they are allowed to try, then I think they have to give up because they have already passed Cruel and Unusable Punishment, which unConstitutional in this country.
That may be but it does not get him a get out of jail card. As far as I am concerned they can keep him in a cage and let him slowly and painfully die of cancer. No drugs no treatment.
Well stated, Sister. Couldn't agree with you more.
I can't understand how supposedly intelligent people can kill babies still in the womb that are the essence of innocence who's only crime is wanting to be born and live a full life yet cry big crocodile tears for murdering, raping and torturing scumbags who have no remorse for their actions and had no compassion or mercy for their victims.
And you never will. Call it "ideological blockage."
Does saying that help you sleep at night? Does it was you conscience ?
Comment removed for CoC violation [ph]
The EU countries can go "F" themselves!
So come on. Explain to me why there are those here that are crying the big tears for the piece of excrement that is the subject of this seed? Did he show any mercy? Did he show any compassion? What makes him worthy of living and an unborn baby does not.
Ach! Herr Hauptsturmfuhrer! I see you are back at work! We wondered where you were! Could you answer why the slimy scumball murdering piece of filth that is the subject of this seed deserves to continue peacefully breathing.
What difference does that make? I am here now .I have no ties to that country nor do I care to have.
He will soon be dead from cancer. Isn't that good enough for you, or does your blood lust need to see him die at the hands of the state? The fact that the vast majority of murderers do not qualify for the death penalty seems to be lost on you and others.
Why is it always the limited government conservatives or supposed libertarians who support giving the state the power to kill its own citizens in revenge?
This would be a good time to recall that saying: be careful what you wish for--for others.
That's a crappy take. His victim didn't get that chance.
I am not pro death penalty. That sounds crazy coming from a Conservative , but I dont think that any crime deserves death. Definitely not raping someone, kid or adult. Taking a persons life away is a big thing, and to me, no ones right to take. Even if we feel like a person should die, and probably deserve to die. I value life and a right to live, even if someone takes anothers life, two wrongs do not make a right. Killing a person doesnt bring a loved on back, it doesnt undo a crime.
And if the state makes a mistake on the conviction, execution can't be undone.
Good point Shrekk.. that is something I occasionally think about. I was reading an article the other say that about 2-3% of prison inmates are actually innocent.
How many times do we see someone who was in prison for 10, 15, 20, years only to be exonerated and found to be innocent. I think , what if this was a person who was sentenced to death? What if it was someone you loved and the state just killed them.. it was be horrific.
I dont condone a criminal killing a person, or raping , etc.. indeed these are some heinous crimes, but taking someones life is the ultimate thing you can do, its a finality that can never be changed or undone.
I have had someone ask me, you believe no one should get death, what if a person brutally killed your parents, raped your wife.. etc.. stuff that would make any of us insane with anger. And yes the human side, and in that instant I would probably want to choke them to death myself.. But once again this would not bring any of those people back.
Its a difficult scenario to think about because there is no way to feel authentic feeling unless it really happened.
Are you for the death penalty?
There are a couple of other things to consider. Any examination of who is likely to suffer the death penalty reveals that our society has a very difficult time dispensing equal justice as the very poor and especially minorities are much much much more likely to suffer the death penalty than middle to upper class members of the dominate culture. Unequal justice is a fundamental injustice. So, there is that to consider.
Also, though we often hear that, "It takes too long", or "Why don't we just take the condemned out back and shoot them in the head like they do in China?", or something along those lines, it just is not that simple. People are enraged that it takes so long to execute the condemned and mad that they have to pay for such long imprisonments of condemned inmates. Part of this is there are multiple legal safeguards under law intended to protect the condemned's rights including multiple mandatory appeals. While each case is different, in general by the time an execution is carried out it costs the system (taxpayers) many times as much to execute someone compared with incarcerating them for the remainder of their lives. The reality is that unless we were to completely change our processes and start executing condemned men and women summarily after conviction it actually costs us all a lot more to execute than to incarcerate.
Additionally, the death penalty is no more a deterrent than long term imprisonment. While there is some logic in the contention that at least those executed will never commit crimes again in practice study after study have shown that the mere possibility one might suffer the death penalty is not anymore a deterrent than other forms of punishment. The fact that perps might suffer the death penalty does not stop the murder and mayhem. This is self evident.
I have suffered over this issue. Reviewing several state's department of corrections websites it is hard to find even one inmate on a death row whose crimes and criminal history would leave almost anyone feeling much sympathy. . In then end, I have come away feeling that the best thing is to let those who deserve death live out their lives solitarily considering their crimes. Let providence exact its vengeance with and over time. Let me leave you with one example which illustrates my thinking on this, one Timothy McVeigh. As someone who lost several friends in the OKC bombing his execution did not make me feel one bit better. McVeigh's personal conscience is gone so it cannot bother him any longer. We can never and will never learn one more thing from him now. McVeigh's execution accomplished nothing except the temporary exhilaration of personal revenge. It is no wonder People have mixed feelings.
No, not even when the state has overwhelming evidence of the accused's guilt. Not only are there ample statistical reasons to oppose it (cost, racial and wealth injustice, etc) but I don't think the state should ever send the message that there are some circumstances in which it's OK to kill, or that justice is served by killing. But I distinguish between that public policy view and my understanding for what victims and their families feel, like the father who beat a rapist to death when he witnessed him raping his young daughter.
Name one innocent person that has been executed since the death penalty was reconstituted. Show proof of their innocence not just someone's speculation or suspicion
....it's murder.
Answer the question in 1.2.5
The states with the death penalty call that a boo-boo, a minor faux pas. An oopsie. Better not to acknowledge that such mistakes do happen.
And unfortunately our courts aren't much better on the issue of actual innocence vs due process with a fully adjudicated conviction.
Still waiting for an answer to 1.2.5. Or are you just going to duck it like always.
And that happens a helluva lot when once is too many times.
This is just one person who was innocent. Texas executed an innocent man. You would not have a problem if we strap you to a slab and execute you by lethal inject. We'll later admit that you were innocent. Its just an oops and we can bury the paperwork. If it is good enough for him then its good enough for you.
I have been a long supporter of the Innocence Project for this very reason.
Yep. And once a person is convicted a state has very little interest in pursuing justice. Any time issues of actual innocence are raised it's an enormous uphill battle, and the state's only interest is in defending the conviction no matter what the facts are.
Well Randy.....I will try and weigh in on this since my grandparents were murdered and their murderer was sentenced to death.
My mother is still not over their deaths. It was a brutal murder. They were butchered and stabbed to death with one of their own kitchen knives. When me and my siblings went into their home to pack up their personal items we could see the blood stains and evidence of their struggle. This tragedy was only made worse to learn that my grandfather who was a world war vet, fireman and gun owner did not shoot the intruder because he knew him and tried to reason with him rather than kill him.
I'm not sure how I feel about the death penalty and I'm not sure that my grandfather would have wanted the death penalty but I understand my mother's grief. She is still very angry and so the death penalty is not so much for those who are no longer here but for those who are. Her grieving was reignited when Martin O'Malley decided he was far wiser then the courts and decided to commute the sentence handed down by the jury.
I have a difficult time conjuring up sympathy for a murderer's discomfort but I think it should be the families decision - not a politicians. In the end, Martin O'Malley stole my mother's justice so he could run for the Presidency.
But, from your description of your brother it seems that the murderer's death didn't really resolve anything for him. That's not unusual to actually hear from victims' relatives even years after the execution. I definitely get the impulse for eye-for-an-eye justice. Though I often wonder how the death penalty would be viewed if it had to be done face to face by the victims' next of kin and not by easily flipping a switch but by, say, using a gun.
The murderer's sentence was commuted to life in prison. He's healthy as a horse, 3 meals a day and free healthcare. In addition to my grandparents he also murdered two other people. The State didn't prosecute him for the other murders though. They felt it wasn't necessary since he was given the death penalty.
You may be right, it may not have made my mother's grieving less if the death sentence had been carried out. I tend to think it would not have mattered. She's still inconsolable when it comes to my grandparents. There were unresolved issues. It's her story not mine so I'll leave it at that.
What bothers me about the death penalty is that there have been incidents of mistakes having been made (and worse when such mistakes were deliberate) and innocent persons have been executed. Most civilized countries have banned the death penalty.
I do not revel in the way this execution attempt played out, nor do I wish him to suffer any more pain than necessary.
However this man took the life of another and was legally tried and sentenced in accordance with the law and the sentence needs to be carried out.
He is already dying of terminal cancer. IMHO the sentence is being carried out.
I think we have members of NT who will declare that God is punishing him for his sins.
( I know of a pastor on NV who claimed parents of terminally ill children -e.g. infant leukemia- are being punished by God. )
Truett?
Sharp as a tack epistte!
I had a run-in with him on Facebook, in addition to the many discussions on Newsvine. He is just as angry and belligerent on Facebook. Thankfully he never put my name on facebook together with what I said on Newsvine.
I used to think Truett was relatively ethical for a bible-thumper, but not after my last encounter with him. He seems to have gone off the deep end.
Politely disagree, the sentence was death by lethal injection not death by cancer
I know my old pastor said my mothers death was gods punishment for her marrying an outsider. Come to think of it that's also when I started losing faith.
Dying of cancer is longer and more painful.
You are still getting your pound of flesh in the end.
They tried to execute him once and ended up torturing him in the process. A judge could rule that it was cruel and unusual punishment and that it would be the same to try it again. Besides if they could not find a vein after a dozen tries, including piercing his bladder and his femoral artery, what makes them think they will be successful with a second try? If they try again and the same thing happens then he is definitely being tortured. I am pro-death penalty in extreme cases, but I am never pro-torture under any case at all, ever.
Did you watch The Green Mile?
Did you watch The Green Mile?
Did you watch The Green Mile?
Good point of how an innocent man can be executed. Movie maybe fantasy, but it is also a reality. Im sure back int he day before all the Forensic science, there were many many innocent people incarcerated and also killed.
Who is 'You'? This clown murdered someone (seems liek he wasinvolved in more than 1 murder), and the society he lived in judged him and sentenced him to death by lethal injection. That failed, so at the very least he shuold live out his days incarcerated. You don't get a reprieve becuase you are sick. The person he killed never had an opportunity to grow old and live out their life.
I'm sure you would volunteer to take him into your home, but it is not up to you (thanking our lucky stars).
As I said earlier I take no pleasure from the pain he has endured, or will endure. I simply hope the sentence he was duly given is carried out as expeditiously as possible in accordance with current laws
Again I am not a bloodthirsty type, if wishes could be granted I'd wish his life never started on this path in the first place. However he took a life, was legally tried, legally convicted and legally sentenced, I simply want the lawful sentence to be carried out.
What part of terminal cancer eludes your thought process? He will be dead in a few months from cancer that is ravaging his body.
The 8th Amendment forbids cruel and unusual punishment, or doesn't that apply when you feel the need for revenge?
Why is it that conservatives claim that the US is a Christian country but they ignore the teachings of the man that their claim to be their savior. Its almost as if Jesus only applies to conservative Christians on 3-4 days a year. Christmas, Good Friday, Easter and the Ascension.
I agree. There is no telling how many innocent men have been put to death, especially in the era of more racism in some courts. That said I still remain pro-death penalty in extreme and I would add obvious cases. Timothy McVeigh comes to mind. Out here in California several years ago we had a case where a creature kidnapped a 5 year old girl from her front yard, raped her, murdered her and left her intentionally splayed out on the side of a highway naked. When he was sentenced to death he actually laughed and pointed to the victim's father and said the girl told him that "Daddy" used to do it to her all of the time too as he was dragged out of the courtroom (still laughing) and the Bailiffs tackled the father. Given the chance I would push he needle on that bastard myself, because as they used to say back in the small town I come from, some people just need dying.
Now if the state had been successful in finding a vein and the drugs had done their job this man would have died in about 10 minutes and that would have been all. However sticking him a dozen times, as they said including in his bladder and femoral artery and not being successful changes the whole thing. To try it again with the same likelihood of lack of success would, IMHO, amount to torture and Cruel and Unusual Punishment, which as it should be unConstitutional. We do not torture people. We do not get down to their level. We are better then that in this country. Especially he is already dying.
America is the ONLY Western country that imposes the death penalty. which singles it out among countries that are civilized.
You won't hear this very often from me, Buzz, but WELL DONE!
Does saying that help you sleep at night? Does it was you conscience ?
Skirting the CoC [ph]
I like seeing issues on NT that aren't cut and dry partisan. I see a lot of members here who I normally agree with, but we don't agree on this one. When there is no doubt of guilt in murder, I say put the perp down. If I ever lose my cool to the point where I intentionally kill someone, I hope the system kills me too. A functioning society needs the means to exterminate those who commit the most heinous crimes, and inflict lifetimes of anguish and sorrow for the friends and families of the murdered victims. Furthermore, I get really sick of the arguments about how to do it. If you can't get the drugs we typically use, there's tons of fentanyl out there to get the job done in a way so humane that addicts are routinely risking their lives for it every day.
I have never had someone I love harmed. Saying that, I may feel different if I did, and can understand those who have may want a death penalty for the justice of their loved one.
The likelihood of killing an innocent person is frightening and it has happened. That to me is enough to make executions illegal. What does society owe that person? I find the death penalty barbaric. We might as well still be using the guillotine.
The likelihood of killing an innocent person is frightening and it has happened. That to me is enough to make executions illegal. What does society owe that person? I find the death penalty barbaric.
Would you feel the same way if there was video evidence of the crime of murder?
Yes I would.
If I ever harmed anyone, rotting in prison and living with what I did would be more painful than death. But, cheaper for society.
Like I said, I find state sanctioned killing for punishment barbaric.
If there is video footage of some subhuman raping and murdering someone, and the subhuman doesn't even deny it, the cost for trying, convicting, and exterminating the problem should be next to nothing. The fact that it isn't is a real problem. Instead, we pay billions of dollars to house, clothe and feed MS 13 gang bangers for life, in an environment that they continue to use to orchestrate more crimes on the outside.
that is true
What difference does that make? I am here now .I have no ties to that country nor do I care to have.
Then what exactly is holding you back from telling us where your ancestors immigrated from?
What does that have to do with the topic?
Because it is not relevant. When are you going to tell me why you are shedding crocodile tears for the slime in the article?
I'm not shedding tears. They should have never been attended to execute him but he did survive the attempt which should mean something. He is dying of cancer and I think that the least that the state could do is to let him die at home after the horribly botched execution.