Problems finding a usable vein during an attempt to execute an Ohio inmate have halted his lethal injection for a week, but one death penalty scholar says possible legal challenges could further delay his return to the death chamber.
Ohio Governor Ted Strickland on Tuesday issued a one-week reprieve to Romell Broom, 53, who spent more than two hours awaiting execution as technicians searched for a vein strong enough to deliver the three-drug lethal injection. The issue arose three years after Ohio revised its lethal injection protocol due to problems with another inmate's IV.
No Ohio governor has issued a similar last-minute reprieve since the State resumed executions in 1999.
Richard Dieter, director of the nonprofit Death Penalty Information Centre, said he knows of only one inmate who was subjected to more than one execution.
A first attempt to execute Willie Francis in 1946 by electrocution in Louisiana did not work. He was returned to death row for nearly a year while the U.S. Supreme Court considered whether a second electrocution would be unconstitutional.
Mr. Dieter said he expects legal challenges will mean Broom will not face execution again in a week's time.
