This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/sep/30/virginia-execution-lethal-injection-drug-alfredo-prieto

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Manufacturer demands return of drug to be used in Virginia execution Federal judge temporarily halts Virginia execution over drug concerns
(about 1 hour later)
A drug manufacturer has demanded that Virginia return one of the drugs to be used in this week’s execution of a death row inmate. A federal judge has temporarily halted Thursday’s execution of a serial killer in Virginia to hear concerns over one of the drugs the state plans to use to kill him.
Documents obtained by the Associated Press through a Freedom of Information Act request show that Virginia plans to use rocuronium bromide manufactured by Mylan to execute Alfredo Prieto on Thursday. It is one of three drugs the state plans to use in the 49-year-old’s execution. Attorneys for Alfredo Prieto are challenging the state’s use of pentobarbital that was supplied by Texas department of criminal justice last week. A US district court in Alexandria, Virginia, has scheduled a hearing at 2pm ET on Thursday to further examine the state’s acquisition of the drug. The execution had been scheduled for 9pm ET on Thursday.
A Mylan spokeswoman said on Wednesday that Virginia purchased the drugs from a wholesaler. She said the company sent several letters to Virginia officials when it learned about the drug’s possible use in the execution and then demanded that the state return the product when it received no response. Prieto’s attorneys are seeking more information about the pentobarbital the state intends to use – including the name of the supplier, tests confirming its sterility and potency, and documents showing that the drugs were properly handled, transported and stored.
Another drug in the state’s execution cocktail, pentobarbital, was donated to Virginia by the Texas department of criminal justice last week, and Prieto’s lawyers are mounting legal challenges to those drugs in court. States have had difficulty securing execution drugs in the wake of a boycott by their European-based manufacturers.
A department of corrections spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Related: Secret America: how states hide the source of their lethal injection drugsRelated: Secret America: how states hide the source of their lethal injection drugs
Prieto’s is the third of six executions scheduled over a nine-day period in the US, including those of Kelly Gissendaner in Georgia early on Wednesday morning and Richard Glossip in Oklahoma on Wednesday afternoon.Prieto’s is the third of six executions scheduled over a nine-day period in the US, including those of Kelly Gissendaner in Georgia early on Wednesday morning and Richard Glossip in Oklahoma on Wednesday afternoon.
Prieto is due to be executed at 9pm on Thursday for the 1988 killings of Rachael Raver and her boyfriend, Warren Fulton III. He was on death row in California for raping and murdering a 15-year-old girl when DNA evidence linked him to the 1988 slaying of the Virginia couple. Prieto is due to be executed for the 1988 killings of Rachael Raver and her boyfriend, Warren Fulton III. He was on death row in California for raping and murdering a 15-year-old girl when DNA evidence linked him to the 1988 slaying of the Virginia couple.
The Democratic governor, Terry McAuliffe, rejected the El Salvador native’s attempt to delay his death sentence this week.The Democratic governor, Terry McAuliffe, rejected the El Salvador native’s attempt to delay his death sentence this week.
Federal public defender Hilary Potashner in California asked the supreme court on Tuesday to stay Prieto’s execution so that he can continue to fight his death sentence in California on the grounds that he is intellectually disabled. Federal public defender Hilary Potashner in California asked the US supreme court on Tuesday to stay Prieto’s execution so that he can continue to fight his death sentence in California on the grounds that he is intellectually disabled.
In a lawsuit filed on Wednesday, Prieto’s Virginia attorneys asked the US district court for the eastern district of Virginia to stay the execution until officials disclose more information about the pentobarbital it intends to use – including the name of the supplier, tests confirming its sterility and potency and documents showing that the drugs were properly handled, transported and stored.
Texas allows prison officials to shield where they get execution drugs and Prieto’s attorneys say Virginia officials have not provided that information.Texas allows prison officials to shield where they get execution drugs and Prieto’s attorneys say Virginia officials have not provided that information.
The Associated Press filed a public records request for the names of the manufacturers and the suppliers of the drugs, but the documents show only that they were provided by the Texas department of criminal justice.The Associated Press filed a public records request for the names of the manufacturers and the suppliers of the drugs, but the documents show only that they were provided by the Texas department of criminal justice.
A Texas prisons spokesman, Jason Clark, told the AP last week that the three vials of pentobarbital given to Virginia were legally purchased from a compounding pharmacy, which he declined to name.A Texas prisons spokesman, Jason Clark, told the AP last week that the three vials of pentobarbital given to Virginia were legally purchased from a compounding pharmacy, which he declined to name.
Prieto’s attorneys, Rob Lee and Elizabeth Peiffer, said the lack of information about the drugs puts the state at risk of carrying out a cruel and painful execution.Prieto’s attorneys, Rob Lee and Elizabeth Peiffer, said the lack of information about the drugs puts the state at risk of carrying out a cruel and painful execution.
It is unknown whether Virginia or Texas “know any pertinent information about the compounding pharmacy, including its ability to make a sterile injectable drug, its track record with regard to faulty drugs and adverse incidents, or even the source of the raw ingredients it uses”, they said in a statement. If Virginia does possess this information, “it is keeping it secret. This lack of transparency prevents the courts from assessing the constitutionality of VDOC’s execution procedure.”It is unknown whether Virginia or Texas “know any pertinent information about the compounding pharmacy, including its ability to make a sterile injectable drug, its track record with regard to faulty drugs and adverse incidents, or even the source of the raw ingredients it uses”, they said in a statement. If Virginia does possess this information, “it is keeping it secret. This lack of transparency prevents the courts from assessing the constitutionality of VDOC’s execution procedure.”
Pentobarbital is the first of three drugs that the state intends to use in Pieto’s execution. States have had difficulty securing execution drugs in the wake of a boycott by their European-based manufacturers. Separately on Wednesday, a manufacturer of rocuronium bromide, another drug used in Virginia’s lethal injection cocktail, has ordered the state to return its supply to the company.
Documents obtained by the Associated Press through a Freedom of Information Act request show that Virginia plans to use a drug manufactured by Mylan to execute Alfredo Prieto on Thursday. It is one of three drugs the state plans to use in the 49-year-old’s execution.
A Mylan spokeswoman said on Wednesday that Virginia purchased the drug from a wholesaler. She said the company sent several letters to Virginia officials when it learned about the drug’s possible use in the execution and then demanded that the state return the product when it received no response.
A department of corrections spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.