Tennessee pauses executions, will review lethal drugs

Gov. Bill Lee paused executions in Tennessee for the rest of the year on Monday after revealing that the state had failed to ensure its lethal injection drugs were properly tested. The oversight forced Lee to abruptly halt the execution of Oscar Smith an hour before he was to die last month.

Lee did not initially disclose the reason for stopping Smith’s execution other than to say there was an “oversight” in the preparation of the lethal injection drugs. Tennessee’s execution protocols require any compounded drugs to be independently tested for potency, sterility and endotoxins. In his Monday statement, Lee said the drugs for Smith’s execution were tested for potency and sterility, but not endotoxins.

Smith’s attorneys had called for a moratorium on executions and independent review of the problems last week. In a Monday statement, Federal Public Defender Kelley Henry said the Republican governor’s decision shows “great leadership.”

“The use of compounded drugs in the context of lethal injection is fraught with risk,” Henry said. “The failure to test for endotoxins is a violation of the protocol. Governor Lee did the right thing by stopping executions because of this breach.”

Lee appointed former U.S. Attorney Ed Stanton to review circumstances that led to the failure to test for endotoxins. He’ll also review the clarity of the state’s lethal injection manual and look at Tennessee Department of Correction staffing considerations, Lee said in a statement.

“I review each death penalty case and believe it is an appropriate punishment for heinous crimes,” Lee said. “However, the death penalty is an extremely serious matter, and I expect the Tennessee Department of Correction to leave no question that procedures are correctly followed.”

The pause will remain in effect through the end of the year to allow time for the review and corrective action, Lee said.

Henry said last week that the night before the execution, she requested the results of the tests for potency, sterility and endotoxins but received no response. Henry suspects at least two of the three execution drugs were compounded, rather than commercially manufactured, she said, although secrecy rules surrounding Tennessee executions makes it difficult to know for certain.

After a public outcry several years ago, many drug manufacturers refused to sell their medications for executions, making the drugs difficult for prison systems to obtain.

MARK HUMPHREY/AP A group of capital punishment protesters prays on the grounds of Riverbend Maximum Security Institution before the scheduled execution of inmate Oscar Smith was called off in Nashville, Tenn., last month.