As witness to Bert Leroy Hunter s execution on June 28, 2000 in Missouri, I have written to Governor Mel Carnahan requesting that he stay all executions in Missouri until an independent inquiry is conducted, findings are entered, and recommendations are made to ensure that the execution protocol of Missouri inflicts neither cruel nor unusual punishment.
Missouri s lethal injection execution protocol requires a series of three separate drugs be given - the first renders the person unconscious, the second stops the breathing, and the third stops the heart. Bert never drifted into that state of unconsciousness the first drug was to provide. Bert Hunter was not unconscious when he began to visibly react to the lethal injection.
I watched as Bert Hunter smiled at me and then immediately began having violent convulsions, jerking his head and chest back and forth several times as far as the straps holding him allowed. Bert fell onto the gurney, with his mouth frozen open in a grotesquely contorted position and with his eyes open. I watched several minutes longer, as Bert lay lifeless on the gurney, with the look of pain and agony on his face. There was no lapse of consciousness between the time Bert smiled his last smile and the time he began convulsing.
I reported my observations to Governor Mel Carnahan and requested that he appoint a board of inquiry of independent persons to conduct a thorough investigation of what occurred, to consult with unbiased medical experts, to prepare a report of their findings, and to make recommendations of changes in the execution protocol.
It is tragically ironic that Bert Hunter pled guilty and asked for the death penalty only because he wanted a painless death. He agreed to give up his constitutional rights to trial and to an attorney and to ask for the death penalty only because he relied on the state to kill him in a painless manner. If he had known he would suffer a painful death, he would never have pled guilty.
I once believed that lethal injection, which replaced prior methods such as electrocution and lethal gas, was relatively painless. During the two previous executions I witnessed, the prisoner rolled gently onto his back, fell into what seemed to be a deep sleep, and appeared to cough or gasp for air only when unconscious. When Bert was executed, I learned lethal injection can inflict visible pain and suffering before the condemned loses consciousness. Now I realize, to my horror, that the multiple, thick straps on the gurney keep the prisoner from lurching off the gurney during convulsions.
The State of Missouri has the legal duty to ensure a humane execution. The Constitutions of Missouri and the United States forbid the infliction of cruel and unusual punishment. If the State plans to continue to execute people, it must follow its procedures to ensure that death is not inflicted in a cruel and unusual manner.
What you can do:
Contact the Governor of Missouri to ask him to halt all executions in Missouri and to appoint a board of inquiry to investigate, report, and make recommendations that will ensure an execution process that does not inflict cruel and unusual punishment:
Governor Mel Carnahan
Post Office Box 720
Jefferson City, MO 65102
(573) 751-3222 (phone)
(573) 751-1495 (fax)
email: constit@mail.state.mo.us
Write letters to the editors of the following Missouri newspapers:
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
900 E. Tucker Blvd.
St. Louis, MO 63101
(314) 340-8000 (phone)
(314) 340-3050 (fax)
Kansas City Star
1729 Grand Av.
Kansas City, MO 64108
(816) 234-4141 (phone)
(816) 234-4926 (fax)
News Tribune
P.O. Box 420
Jefferson City, MO 65102
(573) 636-3131 (phone)
(573) 636-7035 (fax)
For further information, contact:
Cheryl Rafert, (314) 963-9697, crafert@aol.com.