An autopsy of the last man executed in Kentucky, Edward L. Harper, found only 3 to 6.5 milligrams per liter of barbiturate in Harper’s blood – a level leaving a high chance that Harper was conscious throughout the execution and that he felt pain when he was injected with subsequent drugs that paralyzed and suffocated him, and then stopped his heart. Dr. Mark Dershwitz, the prosecution expert who developed the standards that Kentucky relies upon, said the low level of barbiturate found in Mr. Harper’s body was potentially troubling, stating “[t]he blood level should be a lot higher than seven,” the level at which about 50 percent of people are unconscious and 50 percent conscious. Applying the same standards, autopsies conducted by state medical examiners after 23 executions in South Carolina and 11 in North Carolina, would indicate a 50 percent or greater chance that eight of the condemned men were conscious throughout their executions. In one of those cases, the likelihood of consciousness would have been 90 percent. In four, it would have been 100 percent. (N.Y. Times, Sept. 16, 2004). See other Botched Executions.