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Ohio Preparing for 1st Execution in More than 3 Years
By: Associated Press
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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Ohio says it’s following a mandatory checklist for putting inmates to death as it prepares for the state’s first execution in more than three years.
Items on that checklist include determining that the state has enough lethal drugs for the execution, evaluating the inmate’s mental health and checking his veins for the insertion of IVs.
Ronald Phillips, who was convicted of raping and killing his girlfriend’s 3-year-old daughter in 1993, is scheduled to die July 26.
Last month, a federal appeals court permitted Ohio’s use of midazolam, a sedative involved in problematic executions in Ohio and elsewhere.
Executions have been on hold in the state since January 2014 because of concerns about midazolam and problems finding other drugs.