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Botched Execution Ohio: Court Rules That State Can Try To Execute Inmate Again After Failing To Do So In 2009

By Louis Babcock
Published on: 13:48 PST, Mar 17, 2016

Romell Broom remains on death row in an Ohio prison after a botched execution in 2009. During the execution attempt, Broom was stuck with needles over a dozen times and after two hours, the execution was called off by Governor Ted Strickland. Broom’s attorney stated that a second execution attempt would fall under the Constitution provision that protects people from “cruel and unusual punishment” and double jeopardy. In a 4-3 ruling, the Supreme Court of Ohio ruled against Broom’s attorney. In the book co-authored by Broom, Survivor on Death Row, he speaks about the attempts that were made to inject him.

“Overall, they made over 100 probes to try and find a vein, and 18 attempts at injecting me. They tried everywhere, all over my body, and I tried to help them. But after a while I said, ‘You know, I don’t think this is happening. It’s not going to work.’ But they wouldn’t accept that. It just wasn’t a possibility.”

Broom’s attorney, Tim Young, head of the Ohio Public Defender’s Office, claims that Ohio should only get one chance at an execution attempt.

“Whether you believe it’s the hand of God or just basic government failure, as happened in this case, they don’t get to do this again.”

During the Ohio court case, the prosecution stated that a second execution attempt does not fall under the double jeopardy law. The reason behind their statement was due to the fact that none of the lethal medication made it into Broom’s bloodstream. The multiple needle sticks that Broom had attempted on him were done to secure an IV into his veins. The medications administered during a lethal injection are not injected straight into the inmate. They are injected into a bag of IV fluids. Since the IV was never secured, the drugs were never used.

Prosecutors also argued that a botched execution does not nullify a death sentence. Broom’s attorneys will likely appeal the decision, which would put off another execution attempt for years. Justice Judith Ann Lanzinger was one of the justices that sided with the prosecution. Lanzinger stated that the execution never began since the execution drugs were never administered into Broom.

“Because Broom’s life was never at risk since the drugs were not introduced, and because the state is committed to carrying out executions in a constitutional manner, we do not believe that it would shock the public’s conscience to allow the state to carry out Broom’s execution.”

Justice Judi French wanted to know why Broom’s veins could not be properly accessed. French also questioned the fact that if his veins could not be found once, then they likely will run into the same problem again at a second execution attempt.

“If the state cannot explain why the Broom execution went wrong, then the state cannot guarantee that the outcome will be different next time.”

In 1984, Romell Broom kidnapped, raped, and murdered Tryna Middleton. The 14-year-old girl was abducted by Broom following a football game in Cleveland that Middleton had attended with her friends. At the trial, Broom claims he did not do what he was accused of and claims he was found guilty because he had a criminal record and held no status within the community.

Although rare, botched executions have happened before. The last time an execution in the United States failed was in Louisianna in 1947. Willie Francis was sentenced to die in the electric chair but the chair did not work as it was intended. Francis was executed by the same method one year later.

Do you think a botched execution should be grounds to not have further executions tried on a person?

[Image Via Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction via AP]

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