An Associated Press inves­ti­ga­tion of Tennessee’s ​“Manual for Execution” found that the guide for lethal injec­tions con­tains con­flict­ing instruc­tions and mix­es new pro­ce­dures with old guide­lines for car­ry­ing out elec­tro­cu­tions. The man­u­al instructs prison offi­cials to shave the con­demned pris­on­er’s head pri­or to an exe­cu­tion, as if prepar­ing him for elec­tro­cu­tion, and orders that they have a fire extin­guish­er near­by. It also pro­vides instruc­tions for con­trol­ling the volt­age flow­ing to an elec­tric chair, and instructs the facil­i­ty man­ag­er to dis­con­nect the elec­tri­cal cables in the rear of the chair before a doc­tor checks whether the lethal injec­tion was successful.

Earlier this month, Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen sus­pend­ed exe­cu­tions in the state due to con­cerns about the state’s lethal injec­tion pro­ce­dures. He called the man­u­al a ​“cut-and-paste job” that needs sig­nif­i­cant revi­sion. Correction Commissioner George Little says the man­u­al is the result of human error and poor proof­read­ing.

The man­u­al states that a doc­tor should slice deeply into an inmate’s limb if tech­ni­cians can­not insert the lethal injec­tion catheter into a vein. This prac­tice has been chal­lenged in oth­er states as cru­el and unusu­al pun­ish­ment and for vio­lat­ing a doc­tor’s oath to not harm a patient.

Commissioner Little said that the exe­cu­tion teams have relied on ​“oral tra­di­tion” and that rou­tine drills have ensured that lethal injec­tions have been giv­en prop­er­ly. Gov. Bredesen has asked that the man­u­al revi­sions be com­plet­ed by May 2.
(Associated Press, February 10, 2007). See Lethal Injection.

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