US lawyers say man on death row could be executed with expired lethal drugs

Lawyers for Tony Carruthers, a Tennessee death row inmate scheduled for execution, raised concerns that the state may use expired lethal injection drugs. They asked the Tennessee Department of Correction twice whether the appropriate drugs were secured for the execution date and whether the drugs had expired. The department did not directly answer those questions, but stated it would follow its lethal injection protocol, including regular inventory checks to monitor expiration dates. The Tennessee Department of Correction declined to confirm whether the planned drugs are expired. A federal public defender said expiration dates indicate when drugs can no longer be safely relied upon to produce the intended effect, potentially leading to slow, painful death. Public opposition and drug procurement difficulties have caused some states to delay, speed up, or stop executions due to expiration issues.

"Lawyers for a Tennessee death row inmate say they are concerned the state may be planning to use expired lethal injection drugs at his execution on Thursday, amid growing concern across the country as states work to keep most information about their drugs secret. Tony Carruthers's lawyers twice asked the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) last month whether it had secured the appropriate drugs for his execution date and to ensure the drugs had not expired."

"Assistant Attorney General John W Ayers's response did not directly answer, but said the department will comply with its lethal injection protocol, which includes regular inventory of the drugs to monitor expiration dates. Carruthers, 57, was sentenced to death after being found guilty of the 1994 kidnappings and murders of Marcellos Anderson, his mother Delois Anderson and Frederick Tucker."

"Federal Public Defender Amy Harwell said in an email that expiration dates reflect when a drug can no longer be safely relied upon to obtain the desired result. In the execution context, this may mean a slow, lingering death without a reliable loss of consciousness, as the body painfully and fitfully shuts down, Harwell wrote."

"Public opposition to executions has made it difficult for prisons to obtain execution drugs, among the lingering issues for those who use lethal injection. Some states have been forced to speed up executions or stop them entirely due to expiration dates on drugs."

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