A U.S. appeals court put the execution of a death row inmate on hold Tuesday after that inmate claimed a lethal injection could cause him unnecessary pain because of a birth defect. (Via Flickr / Ken Piorkowski)
"A federal appeals court halted Russell Bucklew's execution. ... He says large masses in his head cause hemorrhages and that could prevent the drug from working correctly." (Via KCTV)
Bucklew claimed he suffers from congenital cavernous hemangioma. The appeals court wrote in a decision Bucklew's execution by lethal injection could violate the Eighth Amendment.
The 46-year-old Bucklew has been on death row since 1997 for allegedly killing a man in front of his children, raping his ex-girlfriend and shooting at a cop. (Via KSDK)
The decision came just hours before Bucklew's 12:01 a.m. execution set for Wednesday. Earlier in the week, a lower court denied Bucklew's request to delay his execution.
CNN reports Bucklew's attorney planned to videotape the execution saying, "If Missouri officials are confident enough to execute Russell Bucklew, they should be confident enough to videotape it. It is time to raise the curtain on lethal injections."
Bucklew's execution would've been the first since the April 29 execution-gone-wrong in Oklahoma involving Clayton Lockett, who was administered an untested drug cocktail. He died 43 minutes into the execution after reportedly suffering a heart attack. (Via KJRH)
The Missouri Attorney General's office appealed the district court's ruling Tuesday evening. Had Bucklew been executed, he would've been the seventh person put to death in Missouri via lethal injection since November.
