Florida executions on hold..

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,1973512,00.html

Florida yesterday became the third state in America to suspend all executions yesterday, sharpening the debate about the morality of putting convicted murderers to death by lethal injection.

Governor Jeb Bush announced a temporary reprieve for 374 prisoners on death row after the medical examiner ruled officials had botched an execution this week, subjecting Angel Nieves Diaz to a prolonged and reportedly painful death.

In another victory for human rights campaigners yesterday, a judge in California ruled that that state's method of administering lethal injections risked violating constitutional bans on cruel and unusual punishment. The state has had a moratorium on executions since February. "Implementation of lethal injection is broken" in California, said US district judge Jeremy Fogel in his ruling. But he added: "It can be fixed."

In Florida, the state's medical examiner, William Hamilton, said Diaz, 55, took twice as long to die as usual - 34 minutes - because prison officials punctured veins in his arms, which meant the toxic drugs entered the flesh instead of going directly into his bloodstream.

Diaz's lawyer, Suzanne Myers Keffler, told reporters yesterday: "This is complete negligence on the part of the state. When he was still moving after the first shot of chemicals, they shouldn't have continued."

The decisions in two of America's most populous states - California and Florida - mark an important victory for human rights campaigners who have argued that lethal injections are unconscionably cruel. After California and Missouri, where a federal judge last month declared its method of lethal injection unconstitutional, Florida is the latest state to raise questions about the methods use to put to death prisoners in 37 US states.

In California, Mr Fogel ruled that the last six prisoners to be executed suffered excruciating deaths. He has ordered doctors to administer sedatives to the condemned, but no physicians have been willing to participate in executions.

Execution by lethal injection was introduced across America during the 1990s to replace the use of the gas chamber and electric chair, reportedly because it was more humane and reliable. But concerns have grown about the use of lethal injection - especially after one of the chemicals used in the cocktail of three drugs was banned from veterinary use.

Twenty people have been executed by lethal injection in Florida since the state abandoned the electric chair in 2000. Four have been put to death this year. In Florida, Mr Bush created an 11-member commission to study the administration of lethal injections, and suspended all executions until the report on March 1.

Witnesses on Wednesday said Diaz appeared to grimace and mouth words. He also had 12-inch chemical burn on his right arm and an 11-inch burn on his left as a result of the drugs entering his flesh.

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Diaz's lawyer, Suzanne Myers Keffler, told reporters yesterday: "This is complete negligence on the part of the state. When he was still moving after the first shot of chemicals, they shouldn't have continued."

Hard one to call though as he may have been dying for all they knew.