Current:Home > FinanceRobert Brown|Alabama executes convicted murderer James Barber in first lethal injection since review after IV problems -FundPrime
Robert Brown|Alabama executes convicted murderer James Barber in first lethal injection since review after IV problems
TrendPulse Quantitative Think Tank Center View
Date:2025-04-07 06:24:04
Atmore,Robert Brown Alabama — Alabama executed a man on Friday for the 2001 beating death of a woman as the state resumed lethal injections following a pause to review procedures. James Barber, 64, was pronounced dead at 1:56 a.m. after receiving a lethal injection at a south Alabama prison.
Barber was convicted and sentenced to death for the 2001 beating death of 75-year-old Dorothy Epps. Prosecutors said Barber, a handyman, confessed to killing Epps with a claw hammer and fleeing with her purse. Jurors voted 11-1 to recommend a death sentence, which a judge imposed.
It was the first execution carried out in Alabama this year after the state halted executions last fall. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey announced a pause on executions in November to conduct an internal review of procedures.
The move came after the state halted two lethal injections because of difficulties inserting IVs into the condemned men's veins. Advocacy groups claimed a third execution, carried out after a delay because of IV problems, was botched, a claim the state has disputed.
Barber's attorneys unsuccessfully asked the courts to block the execution, saying the state has a pattern of failing "to carry out a lethal injection execution in a constitutional manner."
The state asked the courts to let the execution proceed.
"Mrs. Epps and her family have waited for justice for twenty-two years," the Alabama attorney general's office wrote in a court filing.
Attorneys for inmate Alan Miller said prison staff poked him with needles for over an hour as they unsuccessfully tried to connect an IV line to him and at one point left him hanging vertically on a gurney during his aborted execution in September. State officials called off the November execution of Kenneth Eugene Smith after they were unsuccessful in connecting the second of two required lines.
Ivey announced in February that the state was resuming executions. Alabama Corrections Commissioner John Hamm said prison system had added to its pool of medical professionals, ordered new equipment and conducted additional rehearsals.
Attorneys for Barber had argued that his execution "will likely be botched in the same manner as the prior three."
The Supreme Court denied Barber's request for a stay without comment. Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented from the decision in a writing joined by Justice Elena Kagan and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.
"The Eighth Amendment demands more than the State's word that this time will be different. The Court should not allow Alabama to test the efficacy of its internal review by using Barber as its 'guinea pig,'" Sotomayor wrote.
State officials wrote that the previous executions were called off because of a "confluence of events-including health issues specific to the individual inmates and last-minute litigation brought by the inmates that dramatically shortened the window for ADOC officials to conduct the executions."
In the hours leading up to the scheduled execution, Barber had 22 visitors and two phone calls, a prison spokesperson said. Barber ate a final meal of loaded hashbrowns, western omelet, spicy sausage and toast.
One of the changes Alabama made following the internal review was to give the state more time to carry out executions. The Alabama Supreme Court did away with its customary midnight deadline to get an execution underway in order to give the state more time to establish an IV line and battle last-minute legal appeals.
- In:
- Alabama
- Death Penalty
- Capital Punishment
- Murder
- execution
veryGood! (3)
Related
- Spooky or not? Some Choa Chu Kang residents say community garden resembles cemetery
- Much of New Mexico is under flood watch after 100 rescued from waters over weekend
- Why Fans Are Convinced Travis Kelce Surprised Taylor Swift at Her Dublin Show
- Lawsuit says Pennsylvania county deliberately hid decisions to invalidate some mail-in ballots
- Head of the Federal Aviation Administration to resign, allowing Trump to pick his successor
- The Celtics are up for sale. Why? Everything you need to know
- New clerk sworn in to head troubled county courthouse recordkeeping office in Harrisburg
- US Olympic track and field trials: Winners and losers from final 4 days
- How to watch new prequel series 'Dexter: Original Sin': Premiere date, cast, streaming
- New clerk sworn in to head troubled county courthouse recordkeeping office in Harrisburg
Ranking
- The Super Bowl could end in a 'three
- Federal judge halts Mississippi law requiring age verification for websites
- Wimbledon 2024: Here’s how to watch on TV, betting odds and more you should know
- Six Flags and Cedar Fair are about to merge into one big company: What to know
- Charges tied to China weigh on GM in Q4, but profit and revenue top expectations
- Man shot after fights break out at Washington Square Park
- What to know about the plea deal offered Boeing in connection with 2 plane crashes
- 2024 French election begins, with far-right parties expected to make major gains in parliament
Recommendation
'Malcolm in the Middle’ to return with new episodes featuring Frankie Muniz
Record-smashing Hurricane Beryl may be an 'ominous' sign of what's to come
Jury selection begins in murder trial of former Houston police officer
How Michael Phelps Adjusted His Eating Habits After His 10,000-Calorie Diet
Travis Hunter, the 2
Scuba diver dies during salvage operation on Crane Lake in northern Minnesota
Powerball winning numbers for June 29 drawing: Jackpot rises to $125 million
New clerk sworn in to head troubled county courthouse recordkeeping office in Harrisburg