Second execution decision

COLUMBUS: Ohio can try again to put to death a condemned killer whose 2009 botched execution was called off after two hours, the Ohio Supreme Court said yesterday.

The court by a 4-3 vote rejected arguments by death row inmate, Romell Broom, whose attorneys said giving the state prisons agency a second chance would amount to cruel and unusual punishment, and double jeopardy.

Prosecutors had argued double jeopardy did not apply because lethal drugs never entered Broom’s veins while executioners unsuccessfully tried to hook up an IV.

They also said a previously unsuccessful execution attempt did not affect the constitutionality of his death sentence.

Justice Judith Ann Lanzinger sided with the state, saying the execution never began because the drugs were never administered.

The majority opinion said it was unclear why Broom’s veins could not be accessed, a fact that brings the rejection of his appeal into question,

ROMELL BROOM

Justice Judi French wrote in a dissent.

“If the state cannot explain why the Broom execution went wrong, then the state cannot guarantee that the outcome will be different next time,” French wrote.

No new execution date has been set for Broom, 59.

Broom was sentenced to die for raping and killing 14-yearold Tryna Middleton after abducting her in Cleveland in 1984 as she walked home with friends.

His 2009 execution was stopped by then-governor, Ted Strickland, after an execution team tried for two hours to find a suitable vein.

Broom has said he was stuck with needles at least 18 times, with pain so intense he cried and screamed.

Requiring Broom to endure another execution attempt would double up his punishment by forcing him to relive the pain he had already been through, his attorneys, Adele Shank and Timothy Sweeney, argued in a court filing last year.

Broom’s appeals in federal court were on hold while the state court heard the constitutional arguments.

With a federal appeal of the ruling likely, a second execution is years away.

In addition, Ohio already has more than two dozen death row inmates with firm execution dates, but no lethal drugs to put them to death with.

In 1947, Louisiana electrocuted 18-year-old Willie Francis by electric chair a year after an improperly prepared electric chair failed to work.

The US Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to allow the second execution to proceed, rejecting double jeopardy arguments. – ANA-AP