Alabama seeks to execute a prisoner using lethal injection for the first time since the state halted executions due to complications with IV insertion.
James Barber, 64, was found guilty of murder in the 2001 death of 75-year-old Dorothy Epps.
Death via Lethal Injection
On Thursday night, July 20, Barber will be executed in a South Alabama jail. This will be Alabama's first planned sentence since Governor Kay Ivey temporarily halted all executions in November 2022 to undertake an internal investigation.
According to CNN, two executions were previously postponed due to issues placing IVs into the veins of the convicted men, prompting Ivey to request an inquiry. The state has denied claims made by advocacy organizations that a third execution, carried out after a delay due to IV issues, was mishandled.
In 2001, Barber was proven guilty of murder in the beating death of Epps. Barber, a handyman who was acquainted with Epps' daughter, allegedly admitted to the brutal killing of Epps and stealing her purse. The court followed the jury's unanimous recommendation to execute the defendant.
Oklahoma was also preparing to execute Jemaine Cannon, who stabbed a Tulsa woman to death after escaping from a prison labor program in 1995, as reported by News24. Cannon's execution happens to be on the same day Alabama is slated to execute Barber.
Plea for Preventing the Execution
In a report by ABC News, Barber's lawyers have sought a federal court to stop the execution via lethal injection, citing the state's troubled history.
"Defendants have failed to carry out a lethal injection execution in a constitutional manner not once, not twice, but three times in a row... And all three failures suffered from the same underlying problem: protracted efforts to establish IV access," according to a court petition made by Barber's attorneys with the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals.
However, the 11th US Circuit rejected the request to prevent the execution. Following a study of state processes, the judges concluded that "Barber's claim that the same pattern would continue to occur" was only speculative.
For Maya Foa, head of the anti-death penalty organization Reprieve, it is shocking that Barber is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection in Alabama, given its history with the method. "Three executions in a row went horribly wrong in Alabama last year, yet officials have asserted that 'no deficiencies' were found in their execution process."
Alabama's attorney general has already asked the courts to allow the death penalty to be carried out. The state maintained that the Department of Corrections made a sincere attempt to address the issues and provided evidence that the staff members responsible for installing IV lines had the necessary credentials.
The Alabama attorney general's office said in a court statement: "Mrs. Epps and her family have waited for justice for twenty-two years."
