Alabama intends to execute an inmate on Thursday for the 2001 beating death of a woman, as the state seeks to carry out its first lethal injection following a halt in executions due to a series of difficulties inserting IVs.
James Barber, 64, is scheduled to be executed in a South Alabama prison on Thursday evening. It is the first scheduled execution in Alabama since November when Governor Kay Ivey halted executions to conduct an internal review.
Alabama Death Row Inmate James Barber to be Executed
Per ABC News, Ivey ordered the review after two executions were aborted due to difficulty inserting intravenous lines into the condemned men's veins. During the failed execution of Alan Miller in September, prison personnel allegedly poked him with needles for over an hour while attempting to attach him to an intravenous line and, at one point, left him dangling vertically on a gurney.
State officials canceled Kenneth Eugene Smith's execution scheduled for November because they could not attach the second of two required lines. The state has disputed claims by advocacy groups that a third execution, carried out in July after a delay due to IV difficulties, was bungled due to numerous attempts to connect the line.
Given Alabama's recent history of bungled executions, it is shocking that James Barber will be executed by lethal injection, according to Maya Foa, director of the anti-death penalty organization Reprieve.
Barber was condemned in the 2001 beating murder of Dorothy Epps, 75 years old. Barber, a contractor who knew Epps' daughter, allegedly confessed to murdering Epps with a claw hammer and fleeing with her purse, according to the prosecution. The jury voted 11-1 to recommend the death penalty, which the magistrate then imposed.
Barber was scheduled to be executed on the same day that Oklahoma executed Jemaine Cannon for fatally slashing a Tulsa woman with a butcher knife in 1995 after escaping from a prison labor center.
Attorneys for Barber have petitioned federal courts to halt the execution, citing the state's troubled past. On Wednesday, the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals declined to suspend the execution. The judges observed that the state had reviewed procedures and opined that "Barber's claim that the same pattern would continue" is "purely speculative."
The court noted that the Alabama Department of Corrections had altered its medical personnel and execution schedule. On Thursday, Barber filed an appeal with the US Supreme Court, requesting a stay of execution. His attorneys wrote that the "fourth execution by lethal injection will undoubtedly fail in the same manner as the previous three."
The office of the Alabama attorney general has urged the courts to proceed with the execution. The state argued that the Department of Corrections had made a good-faith effort to rectify any problems and has provided evidence that the individuals responsible for setting IV lines are duly licensed.
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Alabama Lethal Injection Procedure Resumes
According to Fox News, the state disputes claims by advocacy organizations that a third execution was botched after a delay due to IV difficulties. The office of the Alabama attorney general has urged the courts to proceed with the execution. The state argued that the Department of Corrections had made a good-faith effort to rectify any problems and has provided evidence that the individuals responsible for setting IV lines are duly licensed.
The government performed an internal review of procedures. Ivey rejected requests from several organizations, including religious leaders, to authorize an independent evaluation of the state's execution procedures in the manner of Tennessee Governor Bill Lee.
One of the modifications Alabama made due to the internal evaluation was to provide the state with additional time to carry out the execution.
To allow the state more time to establish an IV line and combat last-minute legal appeals, the Alabama Supreme Court abolished its customary midnight deadline for carrying out an execution. The state has until 6 a.m. on Friday to begin the execution of Barber.
Since 2018, Alabama has had to halt three executions due to difficulties locating a vein to administer lethal medications. The most recent execution, in November, led to a halt. A prisoner claimed that during an attempted execution in September 2022, prison staff jabbed him with needles for over an hour to locate a vein before halting the execution.
Governor Kay Ivey of Alabama requested a moratorium on executions and a "top-to-bottom" evaluation of the state's methods after the third botched execution. The New York Times reported that Ivey did not blame prison officials for the thwarted attempts but rather "legal tactics and criminals subverting the system."
In reviewing the procedures, the Department of Corrections evaluated the training protocol for people involved in executions, possibly adding "personnel utilized" for executions and "the equipment on hand to support the individuals participating in the execution," according to DOC Commissioner John Hamm.
However, no clarification was provided regarding the specific changes made. NBC News reported that Alabama is the only state that has had to halt an execution since 2017.
