Tennessee’s electric chair procedures ahead of execution
Condemned murderer Edmund Zagorski requested to die this week by electrocution in Tennessee.
Just three hours before the 63-yearold man was scheduled to die Thursday, Gov. Bill Haslam delayed the inmate’s execution so the state could be prepared to use the electric chair to kill him.
Twelve inmates across the United States – one in Tennessee, one in Arkansas, three in South Carolina and seven in Virginia – have opted for electrocution over other means of execution including lethal injection.
The last time the electric chair was used was Jan. 16, 2013, when Robert Gleason Jr., asked to be killed by the electric chair in Virginia.
TDOC’s electrocution procedures
According to the Tennessee Department of Correction’s execution procedures for electrocution, the chair is inspected and tested quarterly.
It’s also tested two weeks prior to a scheduled execution.
The prison warden is responsible for maintaining testing and inspection records, the policy states.
A licensed professional electrical engineer must be present during all electrocutions and following the execution, a physician examines the inmate to confirm they are dead. Equipment used: ❚ Natural sea sponges (two head and eight ankle) saturated with water, sodium chloride and iodized table salt ❚ Electrical tester lead ❚ Amp clamp ❚ Test load box ❚ Transformer ❚ Electric console ❚ Amperage meter ❚ High voltage gray cable ❚ Low voltage black cable ❚ Four 100 amp fuses ❚ Head piece and ankle electrodes ❚ Specially designed chair
The electric chair’s first use in Tennessee
Tennessee is one of several states to nickname its electric chair “Old Sparky.” The chair was built out of the gallows used by the state before it abolished hangings in 1913.
A replacement chair was built in 1989, but it kept the old wooden back legs.
The original chair that was retired after 125 electrocutions is now on display at the Ripley’s Believe It Or Not museum in Gatlinburg, while the new chair is stored in the state’s execution chamber in Nashville alongside the lethal injection equipment.
The chair’s last use in the state
The last person to be electrocuted in Tennessee was convicted child killer Daryl Holton, who in 2007 chose to die via the electric chair.
The state’s medical examiner later found that Holton suffered minor burns on his head and legs, but had no signs of severe burning, disfigurement or other major injuries that had occurred in some other electrocutions around the country.
Under previous law, death row inwould mates convicted before lethal injection was introduced in 1999 could choose to die by electrocution.
Primary means of execution
Lethal injection is the primary means of execution in states where it’s legal:
Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming.
The electric chair is an alternative method of execution in nine states: Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Virginia.
Other means of execution allowed in several other states are the gas chamber, hanging and firing squad.
The temporary reprieve
Zagorski faces death for the April 1983 murders of John Dale Dotson and Jimmy Porter.
He shot them, slit their throats and stole their money and a truck, prosecutors say. The two men had expected to buy 100 pounds of marijuana from Zagorski.
Haslam said Thursday short delay give the state time to accommodate Zagorski’s preference for the electric chair over a controversial lethal injection cocktail. Late Thursday night, the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated two other legal hurdles that might have derailed the execution, making it more likely to move forward soon.
The governor’s temporary reprieve and the high court’s decisions came after several days of rapid-fire developments put the state on the defensive and put the timing of Zagorski’s execution in question.
Haslam’s reprieve was for 10 days, but it could take longer for a new execution date to be set by the Tennessee Supreme Court.
The U.S. Supreme Court struck down two stays Thursday night, essentially ending his remaining legal options to avoid execution:
❚ The high court vacated a stay from the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. The appeals court had planned to weigh whether Zagorski may pursue claims his trial attorneys made errors in representing him.
❚ A majority of justices rejected a request from Zagorski’s attorneys for another stay so the high court could review a constitutional challenge to Tennessee’s lethal injection protocol.
Reach Natalie Neysa Alund at nalund@tennessean.com. Follow her on Twitter @nataliealund.