Images Of Death Row Inmate’s Botched Execution Emerge

Reuters

The images of a death row inmate’s botched execution have emerged, and they’re absolutely grim.

The inmate, Doyle Lee Hamm, said he wished for death during the failed execution which resulted in him being stabbed with a needle 11 times.

The execution was scheduled for February 22, but the procedure had to be called off because doctors couldn’t find a vein to stab and time was running out on his death warrant, which expired at midnight.

Hamm was even too weak to stand after what happened to him and even urinated blood for an hour after the ordeal, according to an examiner’s report.

Bernard Harcourt

Hamm’s attorney said the procedure amounted to torture, saying:

During this time Mr. Hamm began to hope that the doctor would succeed in obtaining IV access so that Mr. Hamm could ‘get it over with’ because he preferred to die rather than to continue to experience the ongoing severe pain.

At one point a large amount of blood began to accumulate in the region of Mr. Hamm’s groin. The blood soaked a pad or drape, and another one was applied.

There is now a lawsuit being filed against the Alabama Department of Corrections based on Hamm’s account of the execution, reports NBC News.

Bernard Harcourt

During an interview with Hamm for a report, Dr. Mark Heath heard that he was placed into an execution chamber with nine people.

He was strapped to a gurney, and said the IV team ‘mashed’ the needles into his flesh in an effort to find a vein.

They were unsuccessful, so two more people entered the room to try and find a major vein through which to administer the chemicals.

The report said:

During this time Mr. Hamm began to hope that the doctor would succeed in obtaining IV access so that Mr. Hamm could “get it over with” because he preferred to die rather than to continue to experience the ongoing severe pain.

After a man announced that the execution was cancelled because time was running out on the death warrant, Hamm claims the doctor said he wanted to keep trying.

Alabama Department of Corrections

The report said:

The doctor then moved to Mr. Hamm’s feet and began examining them and palpating them, stating that he had not had an opportunity to attempt access in the feet. The man then told the doctor to ‘get out’.

It has been hypothesised that Hamm’s bladder, ureter or prostate may have been punctured, causing the blood in his urine.

The Alabama Department of Corrections has declined to comment on Harcourt’s allegations, but the corrections commissioner said he did not think the delay was a ‘problem’ because plans were afoot to execute Hamm another time.

Hamm has since told his doctor that he is having nightmares and is suffering from daytime flashbacks.

UNILAD