Kenneth Biros, who is sched­uled for exe­cu­tion in Ohio on December 8, request­ed an emer­gency stay of exe­cu­tion in U.S. District Court, argu­ing that Ohio is mov­ing too fast to use its new, one-drug lethal injec­tion process. Last month, Ohio became the first state to adopt a one-drug lethal injec­tion pro­to­col when its three-drug method came under scruti­ny fol­low­ing the botched exe­cu­tion attempt on death row inmate Romell Broom. Biros claims that ​“the untest­ed method announced last month could jeop­ar­dize his right to an exe­cu­tion that does not con­sti­tute cru­el and unusu­al pun­ish­ment,” and that ​“mov­ing ahead with the process would amount to human exper­i­men­ta­tion with a sys­tem nev­er been used before in the United States or any other country.”

U.S. District Court Judge Gregory Frost, who is con­sid­er­ing Biros’s chal­lenge to the one-drug method, also accept­ed requests from Rommel Broom to tes­ti­fy at a hear­ing that chal­lenges the state’s efforts to put him to death again. Ohio Governor Ted Strickland stopped Broom’s September 15 exe­cu­tion after offi­cials were unsuc­cess­ful in find­ing a usuable vein. Governor Strickland has also denied Biros’s request for clemency.

(A. Welsh-Huggins, ​“Ohio dis­mem­ber­ment killer files new delay request,” Associated Press, December 3, 2009). See Romell Broom regard­ing botched exe­cu­tion attempt. See also Lethal Injection.

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