NEWS RELEASE
For immediate release:
Feb. 16, 2016
For more information, contact:
Michael Stone
(434) 960-7779
michael@vadp.org
Death Penalty Coalition Calls for Clear Answers
from DOC About Availability of Lethal Injection Drugs
The following statement is being released on behalf of the non-
partisan Virginia Death Penalty Coalition:
“The Virginia Department of Corrections has issued contradictory
statements about the availability of lethal injection drugs for the scheduled
execution on March 16, 2016.
“The DOC acknowledges that it has two doses of the sedative
pentobarbital used to render an inmate unconscious. The DOC strongly
defended this drug as appropriate to execute Alfredo Prieto on October 1,
2015, and used only one dose in that execution.
“At the same time, the DOC asserts that it does not have the sedative
drug needed to carry out an execution by lethal injection, but refuses to
answer why the two doses on hand are insufficient because of potential
litigation. According to the DOC, it has no idea how it will carry out
executions in the future.
“The DOC’s claim that it lacks drugs needed for lethal injections has
created a contrived crisis used to pressure legislators to change the default
execution method from lethal injection to the electric chair, which is widely
viewed as an outdated, barbaric form of execution. If this bill (HB 794) is
approved, Virginia would be just one of two states in the country that still
use the chair as their default method of execution. It would also grant
unfettered authority to the DOC Director to determine how executions are
carried out.
“The DOC’s refusal to answer any further questions is a dishonest and
misleading tactic to acquire a new default execution method that it has
sought for over two years.
“The General Assembly should reject HB 794 that would allow the
DOC to decide without scrutiny or supervision the manner of execution in
Virginia, and protect citizens’ rights to know how the death penalty is
carried out in Virginia. It is long past time for the DOC to issue a clear and
unambiguous statement regarding the methods it intends to use to carry out
the scheduled March 16th execution.”
HEF
The Virginia Death Penalty Coalition is comprised of Virginians for
Alternatives to the Death Penalty, the ACLU of Virginia and the Virginia
Catholic Conference.
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