After a three-year hiatus, the state of Ohio plans to start resuming executions in January. The state will try a new lethal injection method after being unable to find the drug it had wanted to use.
Attorney General spokesman Dan Tierney says the announcement came in a routine federal court hearing about the ongoing litigation over Ohio’s death penalty.
“Our office stated that we are prepared to file a notice of protocol change on behalf of Ohio DRC.”
State prison officials plan to use a three drug mixture which includes the drug midazolam. That drug was used two years ago in the state’s last execution, in which inmate Dennis McGuire appeared to be gasping and struggling for air. The Ohio Public Defenders Office says it plans to fight the change. Twenty eight execution dates stretching all the way to 2020 have been on hold while the state tried to buy execution drugs find pharmacies that would make them.
