Texas Proceeds with Lethal Injection After Pike Execution Anomaly, Ignoring Lawyers' Drug Quality Warnings
46-year-old death row inmate Jamal Howard became the first U.S. inmate to be executed by lethal injection after Christa Pike's execution last week failed to be completed as scheduled. Howard's lawyers sought a stay on the grounds that Texas might use the same batch of degraded pentobarbital; two levels of courts rejected his appeals twice, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up the case on Wednesday evening, and Governor Abbott did not approve the 30-day delay request.
According to BBC News, Texas executed death row inmate Jamal Howard by lethal injection of pentobarbital on Wednesday evening. Howard, 46, was pronounced dead at 20:03 local time at the Huntsville State Penitentiary. This is the first lethal injection execution in the United States to be carried out to completion since Tennessee's execution of Christa Pike failed to be completed as scheduled last week.
Howard was convicted and sentenced to death for the 2000 robbery-related shooting death of Vicki Swearout, a 42-year-old convenience store clerk. He was 20 years old at the time of the incident, during which he stole a carton of cigarettes and $114 in cash.
Howard's lawyers applied to the judge for a stay of execution on the grounds that Pike's injection last week failed to be completed as scheduled, and Texas planned to use the same drug — pentobarbital — on Howard. The defense also argued that the state's supply of the drug may have degraded, a claim consistent with arguments previously made by Pike's attorneys; no independent testing or official public confirmation has been made (according to BBC's report citing its U.S. partner CBS News). The legal team wrote in their submission to the court: "Texas should not be eager to follow in Tennessee's footsteps; a stay would keep that from happening."
Two levels of courts rejected his appeal twice, and the U.S. Supreme Court also declined to take up the case on Wednesday evening. The lawyers also applied to Republican Governor Greg Abbott to postpone the execution by 30 days in order to learn more about the injection drugs, but the request was likewise not approved. Faced with the procedural risks raised by the defense, the state's executive and judicial systems prioritized the established schedule over further review.
In his final statement, Howard apologized to Swearout's family. "I wish that you accept my apology, and I wish for your forgiveness," he told family members watching from the witness room. "I'm sorry for what happened. I wish you can learn to forgive me one of these days."
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