Attorneys seek information on aborted Alabama execution
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Execution team members stuck an inmate repeatedly in the lower legs, ankles and groin in effort to find a usable vein before the state called off the lethal injection, according to a Friday court filing by the inmate’s lawyer.
Attorney Bernard Harcourt said he is seeking more information about what happened during the attempted execution of his client, 61-year-old Doyle Lee Hamm, on Thursday night.
U.S. District Judge Karon Bowdre on Friday ordered a medical examination of Hamm and directed the state to maintain material related to the attempt.
Hamm, who has battled lymphoma, was to be executed Thursday for the 1987 slaying of motel clerk Patrick Cunningham. However, prison officials announced about 11:30 p.m. Thursday that they were halting the execution because medical staff did not think they could obtain “the appropriate venous access” before a midnight deadline. The announcement came about 2 1/2 hours after the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the execution to proceed.