Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee is declining to stop Thursday’s scheduled execution of death row inmate Darrell Hines, even as his attorneys claim he could suffer cruel and unusual punishment because of an “under-skilled” physician.
“After deliberate consideration of Anthony Darrell Hines’ request for clemency, and after a thorough review of the case, I am upholding the sentence of the state of Tennessee and do not plan to intervene,” Lee said in a statement Tuesday.
Attorneys for Hines, who was convicted of first-degree murder in the 1986 stabbing death of motel maid Catherine Jean Jenkins in Kingston Springs, said the physician likely to oversee the execution is unqualified to insert the IV to administer lethal drugs, based on the botched execution in May of Tony Carruthers. Lee called off that execution after the doctor and execution team struggled for about an hour to apply a central line, leaving the inmate in what one witness described as a “bloody mess.”
“It would be a grotesque spectacle for Tennessee to move forward with the execution of Darrell Hines given his debilitated medical condition and the many unanswered questions following the botched execution attempt of Tony Carruthers,” attorney Kit Thomas said in a statement.
Thomas said the Tennessee Department of Correction violated its own protocol by hiring Dr. Mark Fowler to handle the Carruthers execution even though he was unqualified to set the central IV line.
Hines’ attorneys petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to postpone his execution and review a Tennessee Supreme Court decision against allowing a special master to determine whether his Eighth Amendment rights could be violated. They contend he could suffer the same problems as Carruthers because of two strokes that left him partially paralyzed.
The attorneys also sent a second letter to the Department of Correction, governor, attorney general and warden of Riverbend Maximum Security Institution asking the state to disclose the results of the lethal injection drug it plans to use on Hines.
WKRN reported that Jenkins’ daughter, Melissa Jenkins, previously said “justice will be served” by the execution but that closure “doesn’t exist” because most of the focus is placed on the person convicted of committing the crime, rather than the victim.
Originally published on tennesseelookout.com, part of the BLOX Digital Content Exchange.
Please disable your ad blocker, whitelist our site, or purchase a subscription
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.