Governor not alarmed by latest Arkansas execution

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The Arkansas governor said Friday that he sees no reason for anything beyond a routine review of the state’s execution procedures after a condemned killer lurched and convulsed 20 times during a lethal injection late Thursday.

Attorneys for Kenneth Williams called for a full investigation, but Gov. Asa Hutchinson said: “You don’t call for an independent investigation unless there’s some reason for it. Last night, one of the goals was there not be any indications of pain by the inmate, and that’s what I believe is the case.”

Hutchinson said Williams’ execution will be reviewed by the Department of Correction, as is typical. He said a written report would not be issued.

An Associated Press reporter who witnessed the execution said that about three minutes in, Williams’ body jerked 15 times in quick succession, lurching violently against the leather restraint across his chest. After that, Williams breathed through his mouth and moaned or groaned once — during a consciousness check — until falling still seven minutes after the lethal injection.

Hutchinson said Arkansas Department of Correction Director Wendy Kelley described Williams’ movement as “coughing without noise,” though media witnesses described hearing sounds from the inmate.

Williams’ attorneys released a statement calling the witness accounts “horrifying.” The American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas also called for an investigation, arguing that the state may have violated the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment.

Williams became the fourth convicted killer executed in Arkansas in eight days as the state sought to carry out as many lethal injections as possible before one of its drugs, the sedative midazolam, expires Sunday.