COURT: WE CANNOT LET THIS POOR MAN SUFFER

8th Circuit halts the Missouri execution of a sociopathic murderer so he won’t have to suffer from a lethal injection

In 1996, Russell Bucklew tracked down his ex-girlfriend Stephanie Pruitt to a mobile home in Cape Girardeau, Missouri where she and her two daughters were staying with Michael Sanders and his two sons. Bucklew shot Sanders to death in front of the four children. He then took Pruitt to a remote area where he raped her. A Missouri state trooper later spotted Bucklew on an interstate highway. After a chase, they exchanged gunfire. Bucklew missed the trooper who grazed the murderer in the head. After Bucklew was jailed, he escaped to the home of Prutt’s mother where he attacked her with a hammer. She survived and he was caught a short time later.

Bucklew, the poor sould, suffers from cavernous hemangioma, a congenital condition that causes damaged blood vessels and tumors in his head, brain, neck, and throat. Shortly before his scheduled execution, his attorneys appealed to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, arguing that in view of his medical condition, an injection of pentobarbital would cause Bucklew extreme pain and suffering. Cheryl Pilate, one of Bucklew’s lawyers had said before the hearing that, “The state does not have the right to inflict extreme, torturous pain during an execution.”

Less than 8 hours before his execution, which was scheduled for 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, the 8th Circuit blocked Bucklew’s date with death. In a 2-1 ruling, the Court held that “Bucklew's unrebutted medical evidence demonstrates the requisite sufficient likelihood of unnecessary pain and suffering beyond the constitutionally permissible amount inherent in all executions. The irreparable harm to Bucklew is great in comparison to the harm to the state from staying the execution.”

There you have it folks. The court doesn’t want any harm to come to poor Mr. Bucklew. I am sure that the two sons of Michael Sanders will appreciate the compassion shown to the sociopath who killed their father in cold blood right in front of their eyes.

I have just one more comment: Damn that Missouri state trooper for being such a piss-poor shooter.

UPDATE: The full 8th Circuit overturned the three-judge panel, but less than two hours before Bucklew was going to be executed, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito granted him another stay.

From Jurist:

US Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito issued an order Tuesday evening halting the execution of Missouri inmate Russell Bucklew. Bucklew's attorneys have asked courts to stay the execution because of Bucklew's medical conditions. According to an affidavit from Dr. Joel B. Zivot, an Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology and Surgery, Emory University School of Medicine, Bucklew suffers from numerous congenital health conditions that put him at high risk of choking or suffocating during an execution. A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit suspended the execution Tuesday after a request from Bucklew's attorneys for a stay. The full Eighth Circuit reversed the panel's decision Tuesday evening, allowing for the execution to go ahead until Justice Alito's intervention. The full Supreme Court is likely to review Justice Alito's order Wednesday and decide whether to hear Bucklew's challenge to his execution.

It was not one of the liberal members of the Supreme Court who upheld the stay of execution. It was Samuel Alito, one of the conservative justices.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court unanimously issued a stay and sent Bucklew’s case back to the 8th Circuit, ordering that court to take another look at the case.