Administrative Judge Fred G. Morrison Jr. has ruled that North Carolina prison officials failed to live up to their promise that a doctor would monitor Willie Brown’s vital signs during his 2006 execution. Morrison, in his ruling, stated that the prison officials’ assurances that a doctor would participate in the execution had “persuaded the judge to let them execute Willie Brown.” He went on to note, “The doctor did not observe the inmate nor did he monitor vital signs.” Morrison’s ruling marks the first time in the current North Carolina execution procedures debate that a judge has found that the state failed to carry out promised protocol changes.

Morrison’s statement came in a ruling on a lawsuit filed by North Carolina prisoners against the Council of State, a panel of top elected state officials. The inmates maintain that the council, headed by North Carolina Governor Mike Easley, should have heard arguments from attorneys for death row inmates before approving the state’s new execution protocol on February 6, 2007. The protocol approved by the Council of State requires a physician to monitor a condemned inmate’s “essential body functions” and to tell the warden if the inmate shows signs of suffering. Morrison ruled that the counsel erred in not hearing from the inmates’ defense attorneys and urged the group to reconsider their decision. He wrote, “They seemed intent on approving the protocol. …The essence of due process is the right to be heard … and it was not proper procedure to consider only documents and comments from those proposing the protocol.”

The North Carolina Medical Board’s ethics policy allows doctors to be present at an execution but prohibits them from participating in any way, including monitoring vital signs or other bodily functions. Under the board’s policy, doctors who participate in an execution could face disciplinary action. The conflict between doctors’ ethical obligations and the right of prisoners to a humane death has effectively halted executions in North Carolina for nearly a year. Five death row inmates have filed suit and their executions have been postponed while the Medical Board, top state officials, the courts and legislators consider the issue.

(The News & Observer, August 10, 2007). See Lethal Injection.