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Nevada judge stalls execution after company objects to use of its drug Nevada judge stalls execution after company objects to use of its drug
(about 13 hours later)
A Nevada judge effectively put the execution of a two-time killer on hold on Wednesday after a pharmaceutical company objected to the use of one of its drugs to put someone to death. A Nevada judge has effectively put the execution of a two-time killer on hold after a pharmaceutical company objected to the use of one of its drugs to put someone to death.
Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez of Clark county district disallowed the use of the drug in a ruling that came down less than nine hours before Scott Raymond Dozier, 47, was to be executed with a three-chemical injection never before tried in the US. Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez of Clark county district disallowed the use of the sedative in a ruling that came down less than nine hours before twice-convicted killer Scott Raymond Dozier, 47, was to be executed with an untested combination of drugs including the opioid fentanyl.
His lawyer, Thomas Ericsson, called Wednesday “a roller-coaster” for Dozier, his family and two close friends who were meeting for what they believed to be the last time at a prison in the remote northeastern city of Ely when they were notified that Dozier’s execution was off.
New Jersey-based Alvogen had urged the judge to block the use of its sedative midazolam, saying that the state illegally obtained the product through “subterfuge” and intended to use it for unapproved purposes. The pharmaceutical company raised concerns that the drug could lead to a botched execution, citing cases that seemingly went awry elsewhere around the country. Dozier, whose execution also was postponed in November amid concerns about the drugs being used and who has attempted suicide in the past, was disappointed, Ericsson said. Dozier, 47, has said he wants to die rather than spend his life in prison.
Todd Bice, an attorney with Alvogen, accused the state of deceptively obtaining the company’s drug by having it shipped to a pharmacy in Las Vegas rather than the state prison in Ely. He said Alvogen had sent a letter to state officials in April telling them it opposes the use of its products in executions, particularly midazolam. “He was obviously prepared to be executed tonight,” Ericsson said. “He found out right about six hours before that it was postponed again.”
The judge ruled that based on that letter, Alvogen had a reasonable probability of winning its lawsuit, and she issued the temporary restraining order against the use of the drug. Gonzalez set a hearing in the case for 10 September. The delay came after Nevada announced it would substitute the sedative midazolam for expired prison stocks of diazepam, commonly known as Valium. Its manufacturer, Alvogen of New Jersey, filed a lawsuit accusing Nevada of illegally securing the drug for unapproved purposes.
Alvogen said in a statement that it was pleased with the ruling and will continue to work through the legal system to ensure its products are not used in executions. A second pharmaceutical company, Sandoz, also raised objections at Wednesday’s hearing to the use of one of its drugs – the muscle-paralyzing substance cisatracurium – in the execution. But the company did not immediately ask to formally join Alvogen’s lawsuit. Pharmaceutical companies have resisted the use of their drugs in executions for 10 years, citing legal and ethical concerns. But the legal challenge filed by Alvogen is only the second of its kind in the US, said Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center.
A third company, Pfizer, last year demanded Nevada return the third drug intended for use in the execution, the powerful opioid fentanyl. But the state refused. Fentanyl, which has been blamed for deadly overdoses across the country, has not been used before in an execution. Alvogen cited public criticism of “botched” executions in states when midazolam had been used.
Jordan T Smith, an assistant Nevada solicitor general, countered at Wednesday’s hearing that Nevada did not put up a “smokescreen” or do anything wrong in getting the drugs. He said drugs ordered by the state prison system are regularly shipped to Las Vegas. Death-penalty watchers have pointed to inconsistent results with midazolam since the 2014 executions of Dennis McGuire in Ohio and Josph Rudolph Wood III in Arizona. It has also been used in Alabama, Arkansas and Florida. McGuire and Wood were observed gasping and snorting before they died. Wood’s execution took nearly two hours.
“This whole action is just PR damage control,” Smith said of Alvogen. A second pharmaceutical company, Sandoz, also raised objections at Wednesday’s hearing to the use of one of its drugs — the muscle-paralysing substance cisatracurium — in executing Dozier. The company did not immediately ask to join Alvogen’s lawsuit.
Pharmaceutical companies have resisted the use of their drugs in executions for 10 years, citing both legal and ethical concerns. However, the legal challenge filed by Alvogen is only the second of its kind in the US, said Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center in Washington. The previous challenge, filed last year by a different company in Arkansas, was ultimately unsuccessful in stopping that execution. Dozier told a judge that he doesn’t really care if he suffers when he dies. But he allowed lawyers last year to challenge the three-drug method that Nevada planned to use, including the sedative diazepam, the potent opioid fentanyl and a muscle paralyzing drug called cisatracuriam. None had ever been used in an execution before.
Bice said that Alvogen does not take a position on the death penalty itself but opposes the use of the drug in a way that is fundamentally contrary to the drug’s purpose of saving and improving patients’ lives.
In court papers, Alvogen also cited the risk of a botched execution, citing instances in Alabama, Arizona and Oklahoma in the past few years in which inmates were left gasping or snorting, appeared to regain consciousness or took an unusually long time to die.
Dozier, who attempted suicide in the past, has said he prefers execution to life behind bars.
Dozier was sentenced to death in 2007 for robbing, killing and dismembering 22-year-old Jeremiah Miller at a Las Vegas motel in 2002. Miller had come to Nevada to buy ingredients to make meth. His decapitated torso was found in a suitcase.Dozier was sentenced to death in 2007 for robbing, killing and dismembering 22-year-old Jeremiah Miller at a Las Vegas motel in 2002. Miller had come to Nevada to buy ingredients to make meth. His decapitated torso was found in a suitcase.
In 2005, Dozier was sentenced to 22 years in prison for shooting to death another drug-trade associate, 26-year-old Jasen Greene, whose body was found in 2002 in a shallow grave outside Phoenix.In 2005, Dozier was sentenced to 22 years in prison for shooting to death another drug-trade associate, 26-year-old Jasen Greene, whose body was found in 2002 in a shallow grave outside Phoenix.
NevadaNevada
Capital punishmentCapital punishment
Pharmaceuticals industryPharmaceuticals industry
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