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The Federal Judge refused to suspend Stephen Stank’s execution scheduled for Friday night.
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The referee restricted arguments for a deadly injection, the method of Stanko chose a shooting squad.
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Stanko’s lawyers say the process of South Carolina is causing excessive suffering, but the judge said no evidence confirms the action.
The Federal Judge of South Carolina denied the request to suspend the death penalty of Stephen Stank, explaining the state to carry out its sixth execution within nine months.
A 57 -year -old Stank is scheduled to die on Friday at 6 p.m. For 2005 The 74-year-old Henry Turner’s murder, one of the two massacres for which Stanko received the death penalty. His lawyers said the method of execution of South Carolina could lead to unnecessary suffering, but US district judge Richard Gergel on Wednesday ruled that there was not enough evidence to support their claims.
Why did the judge refused to intervene
Judge Gergel restricted the scope of the survey by the state’s deadly injection protocol – the Stanko method chose – and decided that concern about the South Carolina shooting was not important in this case.
Initially, Stanko chose a shooting squad, but later changed his mind after reading reports of Mikal Mahdi’s execution, where the findings of the autopsy show that the shooters could almost miss Mahdi’s heart. His lawyers said the incident showed that shooting squad could cause prolonged suffering, but Gergel banned that line of arguments.
In his decision, the judge stated that the current South Carolina Injection Protocol, which includes two doses of the sedative pentobarbital, meets legal standards and that the claims of cruelty were based on individual incidents from other countries.
What did Stank’s lawyers claim
What they say
Stanko’s lawyers said South Carolina had taken double doses of pentobarbital in South Carolina during the three recent death penalties, although his protocol only needed one. They said it showed a flawed or painful procedure, possibly leaving the prisoners long enough to experience sensations such as drowning because the drug filled their lungs.
However, the Correctional Department officials said the state rules allow for a second dose if the remaining electric activity was set in the heart. Witnesses reportedly reported that prisoners are reported to lose consciousness within minutes, which indicate that the protocol acted as foreseen.
The South Carolina Power Plant is in the death chamber near the Broad River Correctional Institution.
(Eric Seals/The State/Tribune News service via Getty Images)
“Just because we don’t have to get someone out of Gurney does not mean that this is done properly,” said Joe Perkovich, a lawyer at Stanko at the hearing.
The referee is not convinced: “If all you have, there is” one dose, should be enough, “I don’t see it,” Gergel told The Defense.
Why is Stephen Stanko confronted
Backstage
Stanko was sentenced in two separate murder cases. In one, he killed Henry Turner, who retired a librarian who offered him a place to stay. Stanko reportedly lied about the death of his father to get compassion and enter the Turner’s house.
Just hours earlier, Stanko brutally attacked his girlfriend, strangled her, raped her and torn her teenage daughter, who survived and later testified to him.
In both cases, he received the death penalty.
A wider death penalty this week
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Stanko’s death penalty would mark the sixth South Carolina in nine months, which is part of the wider execution of the death penalty across the country.
On Tuesday, Florida and Alabama were executed by prisoners. On Wednesday, the Oklahoma Court of Appeal explained the road to the fourth execution this week after the stay was annulled.
The updated activity arises as legal challenges continue to raise questions about enforcement protocols – especially since some states are facing increased verification compared to witty or prolonged deaths.
The Stanko team mentioned the autopsy concern about the Mahdi’s death penalty when the bullet layout feared that the heart was not effectively destroyed. Jonathan Groner, a surgeon and an expert on the death penalty, suggested that Mahdi die longer than scheduled to increase ethical and procedural alarms.
“I am worried that some of the persons responsible for the execution of Mr. Mahdi’s death penalty intended to disappoint his target and cause great pain before death,” Groner wrote.
The State Correctional Department denied unlawful actions, saying that all shots were properly fired and no evidence shows that the intentional misconduct process.
The source
The report is based on the Associated Press report, including the statements of the Federal Court records, the South Carolina Correctional Department of officers and lawyers representing Stephen Stanko. The additional context was presented by AP journalists involving the national execution of executions.