Chronology of A Failed Execution

The partial timeline below of the attempted execution of Romell Broom in Ohio on Sept. 15 was compiled by the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Sept. 17, 2009; reporter Peter Krouse. The entire timeline can found by clicking here.

Tuesday

• 5:08 a.m.: Broom awakens for the day.
• 5:51 a.m.: Broom is escorted to the shower.
• 6:27 a.m.: Broom eats breakfast of cereal.
• 8:07 a.m.: The chemicals used in Ohio executions — thiopental sodium, pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride — are delivered to the death house.
• 9:31 a.m.: Execution preparations put on hold while the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals weighs a last-minute appeal request.
• 12:28 p.m.: Broom eats a lunch of creamed chicken, biscuits, green beans, mashed potatoes, salad and grape drink.
• 12:48 p.m.: The 6th Circuit says it will not review the appeal. Execution scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m.
• 1:24 p.m.: First round of lethal drugs is destroyed.
• 1:31 p.m.: Replacement drugs are delivered to the death house.
• 2:01 p.m.: Medical team enters holding cell and begins trying to insert IVs.
• 2:30 p.m.: Unable to find a usable vein, team leaves the cell to take a break.
• 2:42 p.m.: Team members back in cell trying again.
• 2:44 p.m.: Prisons director Terry Collins tells the medical team to take another break.
• 2:49 p.m.: Broom wipes his face with a tissue, appears to be crying.
• 2:57 p.m.: Broom asks that his attorney, Adele Shank, be allowed to watch. Around 3 p.m.: Tim Sweeney, a Cleveland attorney also representing Broom, sends a letter to Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Moyer asking the court to stop the execution on the grounds that Broom is suffering cruel and unusual punishment.

Timeline for failed execution (complete version)

Some events leading to Gov. Ted Strickland’s decision to stop the Tuesday execution of Romell Broom because of difficulties finding a usable vein:

Monday

• 9:46 a.m.: Broom enters the holding cell 17 steps from the death chamber at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville after being transported from the Ohio State Penitentiary in Youngstown.
• 11:49 a.m.: Medical staff find that Broom’s veins appear to be accessible in his right arm but not as visible in his left.
• 12:17 p.m.: Broom learns that Gov. Ted Strickland has rejected a request for mercy.
• 4:01 p.m.: Broom eats a dinner of chicken stir fry, rice, butter, bread, pears and juice. Broom declined to order anything besides what other prison inmates were served.
• 7:12 p.m.: In a phone call to his brother, Broom says he “wants it to be over.” According to guards observing him, Broom says he is “tired of being in prison and having people tell him what to do every day.”

Tuesday

• 12:24 a.m.: Broom falls asleep after watching TV for about two hours.
• 5:08 a.m.: Broom awakens for the day.
• 5:51 a.m.: Broom is escorted to the shower.
• 6:27 a.m.: Broom eats breakfast of cereal.
• 8:07 a.m.: The chemicals used in Ohio executions — thiopental sodium, pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride — are delivered to the death house.
• 9:31 a.m.: Execution preparations put on hold while the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals weighs a last-minute appeal request.
• 12:28 p.m.: Broom eats a lunch of creamed chicken, biscuits, green beans, mashed potatoes, salad and grape drink.
• 12:48 p.m.: The 6th Circuit says it will not review the appeal. Execution scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m.
• 1:24 p.m.: First round of lethal drugs is destroyed.
• 1:31 p.m.: Replacement drugs are delivered to the death house.
• 2:01 p.m.: Medical team enters holding cell and begins trying to insert IVs.
• 2:30 p.m.: Unable to find a usable vein, team leaves the cell to take a break.
• 2:42 p.m.: Team members back in cell trying again.
• 2:44 p.m.: Prisons director Terry Collins tells the medical team to take another break.
• 2:49 p.m.: Broom wipes his face with a tissue, appears to be crying.
• 2:57 p.m.: Broom asks that his attorney, Adele Shank, be allowed to watch. Around 3 p.m.: Tim Sweeney, a Cleveland attorney also representing Broom, sends a letter to Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Moyer asking the court to stop the execution on the grounds that Broom is suffering cruel and unusual punishment.
• 3:04 p.m.: Shank speaks with prisons lawyer Austin Stout, who informs her execution policy doesn’t allow lawyers to have contact with inmates after the execution process has started.
• 3:11 p.m.: Execution team members say they are having problems keeping a vein open because of Broom’s past drug use.
• 3:33 p.m.: Shank is taken to the witness viewing area.
• 4:07 p.m.: Collins consults with Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland and the Ohio attorney general’s office.
• 4:24 p.m.: Strickland issues one-week reprieve.
• 5:59 p.m.: Broom eats a dinner of veggie nuggets, lima beans, bread, cookies and juice.