United States | The death penalty

The executioner's wrong

Florida, California and Maryland suspend lethal injections

|washington, dc

ON DECEMBER 13th, Angel Diaz, a convicted murderer from Florida, became the latest victim of a botched lethal injection. The doctor who served as executioner bungled the first set of injections, sliding the needle straight through the vein and pumping the toxic chemicals directly into the underlying flesh. Mr Diaz writhed, grimaced, and attempted to speak until a second dose killed him. That was 34 minutes later; the execution should take only a fraction of that.

This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “The executioner's wrong”

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