Florida Executes Inmate Twice

Angel Nieves Diaz was executed in Florida December 14th, 2006 by lethal injection for the murder of Joseph Nagy on December 1976. There were no eye witnesses to the murder, and it was Diaz's girlfriend who had told the police he was involved. Diaz proclaimed his innocence right to the end.

Puerto Rican officials, including Gov. Acevedo Vila and Senate President Kenneth D. McClintock, wrote to Governor Bush and asked that this execution be stopped, but the request was denied.

Diaz had appealed the method of execution, lethal injection, to the U.S. Supreme Court, claiming the chemicals used constituted cruel and unusual punishment. His appeals were rejected just an hour before his execution took place. There has been much controversy concerning the morality and effectiveness of lethal injection by many different states over the last year.

Lethal injection consists of a three drug "cocktail." Sodium thiopental, is a sedative better known as Sodium Pentothal that causes the loss of consciousness; pancuronium bromide, is used to paralyze the entire muscle system and stop the inmates breathing; potassium chloride, induces cardiac arrest. The line by which each drug is delivered intravenously is cleaned with a solution after each drug is administered to keep it unclogged.

Mr. Diaz had a liver disease that may have decreased the effect of the drug, or other complications as an air bubble in the line, or collapsed veins, as many former drug users have. The first dose of the mixture did not kill him. Diaz was administered a second dose of all three drugs, literally making it that he was executed "twice." It took Mr. Diaz three to four times longer to die, well over a half an hour. The usual time for the drugs to kill is fifteen minuets.

Mr. Diaz cousin Maria Ortero called the execution "Political" and had no knowledge of his liver disease. A spokesperson for Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty called it a botched execution.

This is just one of many executions that were botched. Executions cannot be performed by medical personal because of the code of ethics, so untrained prison staff are performing the executions. Until they find a humane way to execute inmates, there will always be controversy about executions. Mr Diaz was right, this execution was cruel and unusual.