State And Federal Info
Nevada was the first state in the United States to use the gas chamber, and executed 32 men with that method from 1924-1979. All executions in Nevada since 1979 have been carried out by lethal injection.
In 1924, the use of cyanide gas was introduced, as Nevada sought a more humane way of executing its inmates. Gee Jon was the first person in the United States executed by lethal gas. The state tried to pump cyanide gas into Jon’s cell while he slept, but this proved impossible, and the gas chamber was constructed.
In 2010, Ronnie Milligan was released from prison after 20 years on death row. Doubts concerning Milligan’s guilt were also raised after a letter written by an eyewitness at his trial, Ramon Houston, was discovered. In the letter, Houston indicated that he killed the victim. The letter also disclosed that Milligan, who testified at his trial that he was in an alcoholic blackout at the time of the crime, was not even at the scene when the victim was killed. Another co-defendant signed an affidavit saying that Milligan was not present during the killing, and that everybody involved conspired against him when they learned he had no memory of that day. Expressing “grave reservations” about Milligan’s guilt, District Judge Richard Wagner sentenced Milligan to a term of life with the possibility of parole and determined that Milligan was immediately eligible for parole.
Roberto Miranda spent 14 years on death row before his conviction was reversed. A witness, Fernando Cabrera, claimed he drove with Miranda to Manuel Rodriguez Torres’ house and waited outside. Cabrera had motive to frame Miranda because Miranda was having an affair with his girlfriend. At trial, Miranda had been represented by an attorney with one year’s experience who had inherited the case when his colleague died. In overturning his conviction, Clark County Senior District Judge Norman Robison wrote: “The lack of pretrial preparation by trial counsel … cannot be justified.”
In 1913, Nevada invented an “automated firing squad” comprised of three rifles mounted on an iron frame that fired simultaneously. It was used once, in the execution of Andriza Mircovich.
The last inmates at Nevada State Prison were removed in January, 2012, but the state’s execution chamber remains there.
Foreign Nationals
May 22, 2019
Two foreign nationals who were sentenced to death in unrelated cases will receive new trials after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear appeals of lower court rulings overturning their convictions. Jose Echavarria (pictured, le…
Recent Legislative Activity
Mar 15, 2019
Two prosecutors with different philosophical perspectives on capital punishment have called on their respective states to abolish capital punishment. Boulder County, Colorado, District Attorney Michael Dougherty (pictured, left), …
Lethal Injection
Jan 07, 2019
Nevada death-row prisoner Scott Dozier (pictured), who unsuccessfully tried to force the state to execute him, was found dead in his prison cell on January 5, 2019 of an apparent suicide. News reports indicated th…
Recent Legislative Activity
Dec 26, 2018
Empowered by the results of the November 2018 mid-term elections, legislatures in at least four states are poised to renew efforts to repeal their states’ death-penalty statutes or drastically reduce the circumstances in which capital pun…
Lethal Injection
Oct 01, 2018
Finding that the Nevada Department of Corrections acted in “bad faith” to obtain the drug midazolam through “subterfuge,” a Las Vegas trial court has issued a preliminary injunction barring the state from using its supply of that …
Lethal Injection
Aug 24, 2018
As lawyers for Nevada told their state supreme court that a controversial Nebraska execution had been carried out without problems, a federal judge issued a ruling allowing a lawsuit to proceed that would force
Lethal Injection
Aug 09, 2018
Less than a month after a Nevada court halted the execution of Scott Dozier in response to a lawsuit filed by generic-drug manufacturer Alvogen…
Lethal Injection
Jul 12, 2018
In response to a lawsuit filed by pharmaceutical manufacturer Alvogen, Inc., a Clark County, Nevada District Judge has stayed the July 11, 2018, execution of
Lethal Injection
Jul 05, 2018
Eight days before the scheduled July 11, 2018 execution of Scott Dozier, the Nevada Department of Corrections issued a new lethal-inje…
Sentencing Data
Feb 07, 2018
Raymond Wallace Shuman (pictured), whose case led to a 1987 U.S. Supreme Court decision affirming the unconstitutionality of mandatory death sentences, has died in a Nevada prison at age 83. Shuma…
