Lawyer: Bucklew execution 'courting disaster'

If Russell Bucklew's lethal injection goes forward as scheduled next week, his medical condition could lead to a "protracted, bloody [and] ugly" outcome, his attorney said Monday.

Cheryl Pilate on Friday filed a complaint in federal court, seeking to delay Bucklew's execution until "reasonable and necessary" medical tests have been conducted and steps have been taken to ensure he is executed in a constitutional manner.

"I think they're courting disaster if they proceed with this, quite honestly," she said in a telephone interview Monday.

Bucklew, 45, who is scheduled for execution at 12:01 a.m. May 21, suffers from a congenital disorder called cavernous hemangioma that produces large tumors in his nose, throat and airways, Pilate said.

"Based on my review of Mr. Bucklew's medical records, it is my opinion that a substantial risk exists that, during the execution, Mr. Bucklew will suffer from extreme or excruciating pain as a result of hemorrhaging or abnormal circulation of the lethal drug, leading to a prolonged execution," Emory University medical professor Joel B. Zivot wrote in an affidavit filed in support of Pilate's complaint.

Bucklew's crime

Bucklew was convicted in 1997 of shooting Michael Sanders to death in front of his young children and kidnapping and raping Sanders' girlfriend, Stephanie Pruitt.

After his arrest, Bucklew escaped from the Cape Girardeau County Jail and attacked Pruitt's mother with a hammer before being recaptured.

Then-prosecutor Morley Swingle called Bucklew "the most evil person I've ever prosecuted" and said last month that Bucklew's execution would make the world "a bit safer place."

Risks

Missouri uses pentobarbital for lethal injections. To confirm the intravenous lines are clear, authorities first inject inmates with a saline solution containing a drug called methylene blue that can cause blood pressure to rise.

"If Mr. Bucklew's blood pressure spikes after the methylene blue injections, the hemangiomas, now further engorged with blood, are likely to rupture, resulting in significant bleeding in the face, mouth and throat," Zivot wrote.

Should that happen, Bucklew could choke on his own blood, Zivot wrote.

Additionally, Bucklew's vascular problems could keep the pentobarbital from circulating properly, or the drugs he takes for his condition could interact with the pentobarbital, Zivot said.

"The state of Missouri has an interest in wanting to see its sentences carried out ... but any execution has to be performed or conducted according to what the Constitution says, and the Constitution says no cruel and unusual punishment," Pilate said.

Humane execution via lethal injection may not be possible for Bucklew, whose medical condition Pilate described as "precarious."

"A botched execution in his case would be very ugly," she said. "He bleeds out his facial orifices -- mouth, nose, ears. ... He's bled out his eyes. It could be horrific."

Bucklew's tumors are so prone to rupture that he carries gauze and biohazard bags to contain the blood afterward, Pilate said.

Protocols

In the federal complaint, Pilate also noted Missouri's lethal injection protocol calls for pentobarbital to be administered through an intravenous line run into the execution chamber from another room.

If the prisoner does not die after the first injection, he is given a second injection, but the protocol makes no provision for medical personnel to be in the chamber during the execution, the complaint states.

"If the prisoner does not die after the administration of 10 grams of pentobarbital, Missouri's protocol provides no further guidance," the complaint states.

Capital concerns

Capital punishment has come under intense scrutiny after botched executions in Ohio and Oklahoma.

Last month in Oklahoma, inmate Clayton Lockett's vein collapsed, prompting prison officials to halt his execution. Lockett, 38, died of a heart attack more than 40 minutes later.

On Thursday, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals agreed to a six-month stay of execution for another inmate while Lockett's case is investigated.

"We're actually going to be directly calling on Gov. [Jay] Nixon here to intervene and stop a potential atrocity, because the risks here are immense," Pilate said Monday. "We saw what happened in Oklahoma, and that was a young, healthy guy."

Should Bucklew's execution go badly, it could further erode support for the death penalty, she said.

"I can't imagine why Gov. Nixon would want to take the kind of risk Gov. [Mary] Fallin did in Oklahoma, and it has really cost her politically," Pilate said. "I think it has very much hurt her credibility and support for capital punishment."

Pilate is seeking permission to videotape Bucklew's execution if it goes forward as planned next week.

"If the state feels confident enough to go forward, they should feel confident enough to tape it," she said.

Attorneys representing the state in the federal complaint could not be reached for comment Monday evening.

epriddy@semissourian.com

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