Texas carries out US’ first execution since Christa Pike’s failed lethal injection

Howard’s attorneys unsuccessfully sought to block the execution by arguing that he was intellectually disabled and that he faced risks similar to those in Pike’s case because both states use pentobarbital for lethal injections.

Pike’s lawyers continue to seek more information about what went wrong after the 50-year-old woman survived two doses of pentobarbital on Sep 30. Her lawyers said she was unconscious at a hospital after the attempt but was awake and speaking by Tuesday.

A FLURRY OF LATE APPEALS

Howard was convicted of capital murder in the killing of Swartout, who was shot once in the chest during the robbery. Evidence presented at trial included surveillance video showing Howard shooting Swartout.

Howard, who was 20 at the time, took US$114 and a carton of cigarettes from the store in Silsbee, a small, rural town about 160km northeast of Houston, according to court records.

In bidding to halt Howard’s execution, his attorneys had filed a motion hours earlier before the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals raising concerns about the quality of Texas’ execution drugs. The court denied that request and a second filing involving the drugs without comment.

His attorneys also argued unsuccessfully to the US Supreme Court that Howard’s execution should be halted because he was intellectually disabled. The Supreme Court in 2002 had barred the execution of intellectually disabled people, though it gave states some discretion in determining such disabilities.

The state told the court that Howard’s lawyers did not present evidence that would show he meets the requirements for a claim of intellectual disability.

The high court late Wednesday declined to intervene, without comment, clearing the way for the execution.

FLORIDA LEADS THE NATION IN EXECUTIONS THIS YEAR

Florida has carried out 16 executions so far this year, the most of any state. Most states that allow executions use lethal injection as their primary method.

Tennessee Republican Governor Bill Lee has halted the one remaining execution that was scheduled to be carried out in his state this year.