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Helping Karl
Houston Chronicle
October 2007
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, in its ruling Tuesday, gave attorneys for the state 30 days to file arguments that its executions do not cause unnecessary pain.
Prosecutors around the state seem undaunted by the current halt in executions, temporary as they are likely to be.
'Only a matter of time'
Jefferson County District Attorney Tom Maness said he thought lethal injection would survive the challenge against it, but if it doesn't, "states will redo their chemicals. That's quite simple to do," Maness said from Beaumont.
Steven Conder, an assistant district attorney in Tarrant County, said he expected the two Tarrant County inmates with scheduled dates to be executed.
"It's only a matter of time," he said.
Even if the lethal injection challenges didn't lead to the abolition of the death penalty, Dow said he was hopeful the review would provide more details about state-sponsored killings.
He said it was possible the public would learn about the qualifications of the people who carry out executions, the training they receive, whether a doctor is present and the precise dosage of the lethal cocktail.
"There's more we don't know than that we do," he said. "These are all things that are germane to the issue of whether lethal injection violates the Eighth Amendment."
Lisa A Sandberg
Houston Chronicle
4th October 2007
