Alabama postpones execution of inmate with damaged veins

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama halted the execution of an inmate who had argued that his veins were too damaged for lethal injection, because medical staff did not think they could connect the intravenous line by the time the death warrant expired at midnight.

Alabama Corrections Commissioner Jeff Dunn said the prison system halted Doyle Lee Hamm’s execution around 11:30 p.m. Thursday “out of an abundance of caution” after medical staff said they did not think they could obtain “the appropriate venous access” before midnight.

Bernard Harcourt, a law school professor representing Hamm, said the state should be “ashamed.”

Hamm was sentenced to die after being convicted of murder in the 1987 slaying of a motel clerk.

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

For security, use of Google's reCAPTCHA service is required which is subject to the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

I agree to these terms.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.