Ohio inmate who survived botched execution in ’09 can be put to death, court says

Ohio inmate who survived botched execution in ’09 can be put to death, court says Liz Farmer

Rommel Broom

From Andrew Welsh-Huggins, The Associated Press:

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio Supreme Court said Wednesday that the state can try again to execute a condemned killer who survived a botched 2009 execution.

The court ruled 4-3 to reject arguments by death row inmate Romell Broom that giving the state prisons agency a second chance would amount to cruel and unusual punishment and double jeopardy.

Prosecutors had argued that double jeopardy doesn’t apply because lethal drugs never entered Broom’s veins while executioners unsuccessfully tried to hook up an IV. They also said that a previously unsuccessful execution attempt doesn’t affect the constitutionality of his death sentence.

Justice Judith Ann Lanzinger sided with the state, saying the execution never began because the drugs were never administered.

“Because Broom’s life was never at risk since the drugs were not introduced, and because the state is committed to carrying out executions in a constitutional manner, we do not believe that it would shock the public’s conscience to allow the state to carry out Broom’s execution,” Lanzinger wrote.

The majority opinion said it was unclear why Broom’s veins couldn’t be accessed, a fact that brings the rejection of his appeal into question, Justice Judi French wrote in a dissent.

“If the state cannot explain why the Broom execution went wrong, then the state cannot guarantee that the outcome will be different next time,” French said.

Broom was sentenced to die for raping and killing 14-year-old Tryna Middleton after abducting her in Cleveland in 1984 as she walked home from a football game with two friends.

His 2009 execution was stopped by then-Gov. Ted Strickland after an execution team tried for two hours to find a suitable vein. Broom has said he was stuck with needles at least 18 times, with pain so intense he cried and screamed.

An hour into the execution, the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction recruited a part-time prison doctor with no experience or training with executions to try — again, unsuccessfully — to find a vein.

Broom’s appeals in federal court were on hold while the state court heard the constitutional arguments.

Broom, 59, has been back on death row since. No new execution date has been set.

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