Lethal Injection: First Death Row Inmate to Get Single Shot
Kenneth Biros will be the first Ohio death row inmate executed under the state's new one-drug method.
He also will be the first to undergo the new method as it has never been tried before on any U.S. death row inmate.
According to CNN, The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied death row inmate Kenneth Biros' request for a stay of execution.
His attorney had argued Ohio's three-drug intravenous cocktail amounted to cruel and unusual punishment.
The judges concluded Biros' argument was essentially moot since the state announced last week it will change its protocol and rely on one drug.
As previously discussed, many states are debating whether alternative approaches to lethal injection should be considered.
In addition, critics have argued that using a single drug, the preferred method in animal euthanasia, is more humane than than the three-drug cocktail.
Biros' defense team is expected to contest the scheduled December 8 execution.
Other states including Florida and Ohio along with judges have applied different standards over whether an inmate can make a challenge to the method of execution.
Biros, 51, was convicted of the brutal 1991 murder of Tami Engstrom near Warren, Ohio. He met the woman at a bar and offered to drive her home and later admitted robbing and trying to rape her. Prosecutors said Biros then cut up her body and spread parts of it around northeast Ohio and Pennsylvania. He said he acted in a fit of drunken rage.
Since executions resumed in Ohio, the state has put 32 people to death in the past decade.
- Ohio to lead way in single-injection executions (Los Angeles Times)
- Ohio Plans Executions as Rules Are Studied (New York Times)
- Constitutional Protections for Defendants (provided by The Law Offices of Thomas J. Mallon)
- Criminal Defense FAQ (provided by Froelich Law Offices)