HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — A guy from Madison County is set to be put to death on July 20, but he keeps saying that the date and way of death should be changed.
Gov. Kay Ivey has given James Barber, who is 64, 30 hours to be put to death on July 20-21.
In 2001, Barber beat 75-year-old Dottie Epps to death at her home in Harvest. He was found guilty and given a death sentence in 2004.
Attorneys for Barber argue in a complaint that Alabama’s previous three executions were botched and that putting Barber to death via lethal injection would be cruel and unusual punishment.
In a court filing from July 4, his lawyers say, “Mr. Barber stands next in line to be executed via the same failed IV access procedures and practices that led to three botched executions last year,” the filing argues. “Accordingly, he has plausibly alleged that he faces a substantial risk of serious harm.”
The court document says that when Joe Nathan James Jr. was put to death in 2022, jail doctors looked for more than three hours to find a vein that would work. Lawyers for Barber say that in the two other failed killings, medics tried the same things for 90 minutes in one case and two hours in the other. They say that such instances show that Barber is likely to have the same problems.
According to the State of Alabama, Barber’s court papers are too late, and his claims are speculative. Alabama’s attorneys argue that the execution should go ahead as planned.
Barber’s attorneys have advocated for nitrogen hypoxia, an alternative execution technique permitted by the Alabama Legislature. They claim that breathing in nitrogen causes immediate death and eliminates the need for IVs.
According to AL.com, the judge questioned lawyers for the state if the nitrogen hypoxia approach was available during a hearing on Barber’s case Thursday in Montgomery. They stated that Alabama is not prepared for such strategy, according to AL.com.
Because of the execution issues in 2022, Governor Ivey ordered a brief moratorium on carrying out death penalties. A review was done by the Alabama Department of Corrections. In a letter to Ivey on Feb. 24, Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner John Hamm stated that the state is “as ready as possible to deliver closure for victims’ families and justice for all Alabamians.”
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