Summary: Using the new and controversial drug combination involving Midazolam, Alabama successfully executed its first death row inmate since 2013.
Alabama carried out their first death penalty sentence since 2013 last Thursday. The inmate appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg agreed with his decision to deny the stay of execution.
Christopher E. Brooks was convicted of killing 23-year-old Jo Deann Campbell in 1992. She was found bludgeoned to death by a barbell under her bed. Brooks was found driving her car and using her credit card. DNA and fingerprints were used to link him to the crime.
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The final words for the 57th death row inmate to be executed in Alabama since 1983 were, “I hope this brings closure to everybody.” The family of Campbell said his death wouldn’t bring closure but hoped he had “made peace with God.”
In his appeals, Brooks argued that Alabama’s death-penalty system was similar to Florida’s system, which was ruled as unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court last week. Florida allows judges to impose the death sentence instead of juries. A jury found Brooks guilty so his argument had no valid basis. Brooks also argued that the lethal drugs were unconstitutional.
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Alabama adopted a new lethal-injection protocol that almost mirrors Florida’s. States are having difficulty finding the proper drugs so series of different combinations are being suggested. Some of the new combinations have resulted in executions that went terribly wrong. These executions included the drug midazolam. In this execution, Alabama Prison Commissioner Jeff Dunn said the use of the drug “went exactly as planned.”
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Alabama doesn’t have any other executions planned, but they already have the drugs if one should happen.
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