Calif. Execution Poses Wider Question
17-Year-Old's Killer Claims Planned Execution Is Unconstitutional
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Michael Morales, 46, of Stockton, was convicted in 1983 of murdering Terri Winchell, 17, who was found beaten and stabbed in a secluded vineyard. Morales is scheduled to be lethally injected Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2006. (AP/Calif. Atty. General's Office)
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Kenneth Starr and David Senior, attorneys for Michael Morales, the man whom Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declined to grant clemency to Friday, are shown in San Quentin, Calif., Feb. 17, 2006. (AP)
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Execution holding cells at San Quentin, where convicted murderer Michael Morales is scheduled to be executed on Tuesday. (AP)
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Michael Morales, 46, of Stockton, is seen in this undated image released by the California Department of Corrections. (AP/ California Dept of Corrections)
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In response to those allegations, U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel of San Jose has recommended that California employ two anesthesiologists. One would be in the execution chamber with Morales and another would be nearby to ensure that the inmate is unconscious before the two remaining drugs are injected.
Morales appealed, maintaining the injection method, similar versions of which are practiced in 36 of the 38 U.S. states with capital punishment, still amounted to cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the U.S. Constitution.
Fogel asked for the change after studying the medical logs of executed inmates and finding that there were "substantial questions" about whether prisoners were conscious and feeling unacceptable levels of pain once the paralyzing agent was administered.
"In addressing Morales' concerns about the anesthesiologists' monitoring role, the court explicitly clarified that the anesthesiologists will take all medically appropriate steps necessary to ensure that Morales is and remains unconscious," the appeals court ruled Sunday.
The California Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a challenge to the death sentence without comment. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger denied clemency Friday.
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