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Experts: Failed Execution Attempt May Cause Legal Challenges
By: Associated Press
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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Experts say Ohio’s failure to execute a condemned killer despite multiple claims the inmate’s veins were accessible will lead to new challenges in the state’s lethal injection process.
Case Western Reserve University law professor Mike Benza says each new problem adds to the question of whether Ohio is violating the constitutional rights of death row prisoners.
Ohio’s prisons director called off Wednesday’s execution of inmate Alva Campbell after executioners failed to find usable veins.
The decision to postpone the execution came despite three exams within 24 hours that said the veins were accessible, including one just minutes before the execution. Campbell’s attorneys had warned for weeks the inmate’s health problems could affect the injection process.
Campbell is set to die for killing a teenager during a Columbus carjacking two decades ago.