Democracy Now! | Texas Conducts 1st Single-Drug Execution

20.7.12

Democracy Now! | Democracy Now! Headlines for July 19, 2012: Texas has carried out its first execution using a single lethal drug instead of three. Thirty-three year-old Yokamon Hearn was killed Wednesday with a dose of the sedative pentobarbital, despite concerns from death penalty opponents that it takes prisoners longer to die with the single-drug method. Hearn was also killed despite claims by his lawyers he had mental impairments due to Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. He was pronounced dead 25 minutes after the injection began. At least four other states including, Ohio, Arizona, Idaho and Washington, also use a single drug for executions. Earlier this week, Georgia postponed the execution of another deathrow inmate as it also prepares to execute prisoners using a single drug.