After briefly staying the execution of Joseph Wood, Arizona began the execution at 1:52. More than 90 minutes later, Mr. Wood was still alive and gasping for air. An emergency stay motion has been filed in District Court and the Arizona Supreme Court. emergencystay
The following is a statement from Dale Baich, one of Joseph Wood’s attorneys, regarding today’s execution:
“The experiment using midazolam combined with hydromorphone to carry out an execution failed today in Arizona. It took Joseph Wood two hours to die, and he gasped and struggled to breath for about an hour and forty minutes. We will renew our efforts to get information about the manufacturer of drugs as well as how Arizona came up with the experimental formula of drugs it used today. Arizona appears to have joined several other states who have been responsible for an entirely preventable horror — a bungled execution. The public should hold its officials responsible and demand to make this process more transparent.”
-Dale Baich
-July 23, 2014
