Attorneys want moratorium, probe after execution halted
After an undisclosed “oversight” forced Tennessee to abruptly cancel the execution of Oscar Smith last week, his attorneys are asking for a moratorium on executions and a review of the state’s execution protocols
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.After an undisclosed “oversight” forced Tennessee to call off the execution of Oscar Smith an hour before he was to die last week, Smith's attorneys on Thursday asked for a moratorium on executions and a review of the state's execution protocols.
Federal Public Defender Kelley Henry, speaking at a Thursday news conference, said there needs to be an independent investigation of what went wrong. The state's reluctance to promptly disclose what happened undermines public confidence in their ability to carry out an impartial investigation, she said.
Gov. Bill Lee issued a brief statement on April 21 at 5:42 p.m. saying that “due to an oversight in preparation for lethal injection, the scheduled execution of Oscar Smith will not move forward tonight. I am granting a temporary reprieve while we address Tennessee Department of Correction protocol.”
Officials initially said Lee would release more details this week but have since postponed any disclosures until next Monday. Lee spokesperson Laine Arnold explained in an email that they were delaying the information's release so as not to distract from the end of the General Assembly's legislative session this week.
Henry declared herself “baffled" about the delay. “I don't see how the two are connected,” she said.
While Smith and his attorneys do not yet know what prompted the execution's abrupt halt, Henry said that the night before the execution she requested the results of tests for “potency, sterility and endotoxins” that are supposed to be carried out on the execution drugs if they are obtained from a compounding pharmacy. She has not received a response.
Henry suspects at least two of the three execution drugs were compounded, rather than commercially manufactured, she said, although secrecy rules surrounding Tennessee executions makes it difficult to know for certain.
After a public outcry several years ago, many drug manufacturers began refusing to sell their medications for executions, making the drugs difficult for prison systems to obtain. Around the same time, Tennessee and many other states began approving exemptions to open records law that allows the names of drug suppliers and other information about executions to remain secret.
Through a public records request, Henry said she has received heavily redacted records from the state's last lethal injection execution in 2019 and believes the drugs in that case did not pass the required tests.
Asked whether the governor had a response to the petition for a moratorium, Arnold said in an email that Lee will have more to say about it on Monday.
Smith was convicted of fatally stabbing and shooting his estranged wife, Judith Smith, and her teenage sons, Jason and Chad Burnett, at their Nashville home on Oct. 1, 1989. At 72, Smith is the oldest inmate on Tennessee’s death row. His reprieve expires on June 1, after which the state Supreme Court will set a new execution date.