![]() It seems more likely that they sedated him only after they were ready, but before they brought the witnesses in to watch the proceedings. Given the shocking evidence of difficulty to establish an intravenous flow in which to pump the execution drugs, one would hope that the executioners sedated him before they started cutting and poking more deeply. Alabama officials refuse to disclose what happened, or precisely when Joe James, Jr. Nobody witnessed all of this incompetence because the Department of Corrections did not pull back the curtains in the execution chamber until Joe James Jr. They poked and prodded and prodded and poked. was tortured by executioners who clearly had no idea of what they were doing. Other, less clear marks littered his arm as well.” Underneath the mutilated portion of James’s arm was what appeared to be yet another puncture-a noticeable crimson pinprick in the center of a radiating blue-green bruise. That longer, narrower slice was part of a parallel pair, which matched a fainter, shallower set of parallel cuts. The laceration met another cut at an obtuse angle. On the inside of James’s left arm, another puncture site, another pool of deep bruising, and then, a scant distance above, a strange, jagged incision, at James’s inner elbow. Then it looked as though the execution team had tried again, forcing needles into each of his wrists, with the same bleeding beneath the skin and the same indigo mottling around the puncture wounds. “The state seems to have attempted to insert IV catheters into each of his hands just above the knuckles, resulting in broad smears of violet bruising. Elizabeth Bruenig, a reporter with the Atlantic who witnessed the exam, published what she saw: Because the Department of Corrections refused to be transparent about what happened, independent pathologists hired by Reprieve, an international human rights organization, performed an autopsy. The Alabama Department of Corrections assured everyone that “nothing out of the ordinary” had taken place. Even when a prisoner declines to make a final statement, witnesses can hear a “no” or see him shake his head “no.” Fellow prisoners reported talking with James about what he had planned to say, so we know something was amiss. According to reports, his eyes were closed and he was unresponsive. Once reporters were assembled in the witness room, the curtains were opened, and Joe James, Jr. It turned out that reporters had been held in the prison van until just before the execution was about to take place. ![]() Finally, we heard the execution was going forward. Of course, there was silence from prison and government officials. In the case of Joe James, Jr., what would normally be a matter of minutes dragged into several hours. When the reporters are escorted out of their holding area, it’s a fair bet that the execution is imminent. ![]() When reporters’ departure is delayed, it is often while waiting for a court to deny or accept pending legal challenges. This usually happens a short time before the scheduled execution. Reporters will declare, “We’re being taken to the witness room now,” and say they have to leave electronic devices behind. Because executions take place inside of prisons, we watch the play-by-play reports by the media, usually via Twitter. None of us could figure out what was going on, but we soon understood something was wrong. Like others in leadership on that Zoom, I am familiar with typical execution processes. That was certainly the case the night they killed Joe James, Jr. But often, especially in Alabama, nothing is predictable. Sometimes the execution goes as expected, and our vigil ends within an hour of the scheduled execution time. Yet another outgrowth of the COVID19 pandemic, these Zoom vigils have become a powerful convening of people who oppose executions for myriad reasons, gathering together to prayerfully protest and witness against each execution. Two states over, I was sitting in my office in Arkansas, helping lead an online execution vigil attended by opponents of the death penalty from across the United States and beyond. For over three hours beyond his scheduled execution time, gathered reporters, witnesses and other interested parties waited and waited and waited. to a gurney and prepared him to be executed. Ikea blackout curtains.On Jat Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Alabama Department of Corrections officials strapped Joe James, Jr.
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