Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Barring Supreme Court Intervention, Texas Man Set For Execution Tonight

Lawyers for Willie Trottie, scheduled to be executed Wednesday evening, say Texas is using expired drugs to kill him and that he received inadequate legal representation at trial. Both issues are now before the Supreme Court.

Willie Trottie, 45, is scheduled to die by lethal injection in Texas on Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET, for murdering his common-law wife and her brother in 1993.

AP Photo/Mike Graczyk

A stay of execution relating to that issue was denied on Tuesday by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Trottie's lawyers also had filed a separate appeal to the 5th Circuit to stay the execution based on an argument that Trottie did not receive adequate legal representation during his original trial. A stay of execution relating to that issue was denied on Monday by the 5th Circuit. Trottie's lawyers have asked the Supreme Court to stay his execution and hear his appeal on that issue, a request Texas officials oppose.

in the drug-related issue, Trottie's lawyers claimed that the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) intends to use expired pentobarbital made by an unidentified compounding pharmacy. They said that the drug had not been tested for potency or sterility since March leading to a substantial risk that the expired dose would cause Trottie severe pain and violate his Eighth Amendment protection from "cruel and unusual punishment."

Lawyers for the state have asserted that their supply of pentobarbital is effective through the end of September. TDCJ spokesman Jason Clark said Tuesday that the compounded drug had a "by use date" of Sept. 30 and the potency was 108% and contaminant-free.

However, Trottie's lawyers have said that the drug was last tested in March and that there was no scientific evidence to support the department's claim that it was good to last till the end of the month. Maurie Levin, one of his lawyers, said that compounded drugs tend to lose their effectiveness after a week or month, according to scientific literature. They also cited four recent problematic executions, including Oklahoma's botched execution in April and Arizona's prolonged execution in July where the inmate died after nearly two hours.

The 5th Circuit rejected that argument on Tuesday, arguing that "Trottie has not alleged any change in the State's procedure or execution drug that would distinguish the prior unsuccessful legal challenges."

Lawyers for Willie Trottie have filed a second stay request and related petition for certiorari in the case claiming use of expired drugs.