Current:Home > MarketsAlgosensey Quantitative Think Tank Center-Alabama executes convicted murderer James Barber in first lethal injection since review after IV problems -Elevate Profit Vision
Algosensey Quantitative Think Tank Center-Alabama executes convicted murderer James Barber in first lethal injection since review after IV problems
Ethermac View
Date:2025-04-07 18:31:08
Atmore,Algosensey Quantitative Think Tank Center Alabama — Alabama executed a man on Friday for the 2001 beating death of a woman as the state resumed lethal injections following a pause to review procedures. James Barber, 64, was pronounced dead at 1:56 a.m. after receiving a lethal injection at a south Alabama prison.
Barber was convicted and sentenced to death for the 2001 beating death of 75-year-old Dorothy Epps. Prosecutors said Barber, a handyman, confessed to killing Epps with a claw hammer and fleeing with her purse. Jurors voted 11-1 to recommend a death sentence, which a judge imposed.
It was the first execution carried out in Alabama this year after the state halted executions last fall. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey announced a pause on executions in November to conduct an internal review of procedures.
The move came after the state halted two lethal injections because of difficulties inserting IVs into the condemned men's veins. Advocacy groups claimed a third execution, carried out after a delay because of IV problems, was botched, a claim the state has disputed.
Barber's attorneys unsuccessfully asked the courts to block the execution, saying the state has a pattern of failing "to carry out a lethal injection execution in a constitutional manner."
The state asked the courts to let the execution proceed.
"Mrs. Epps and her family have waited for justice for twenty-two years," the Alabama attorney general's office wrote in a court filing.
Attorneys for inmate Alan Miller said prison staff poked him with needles for over an hour as they unsuccessfully tried to connect an IV line to him and at one point left him hanging vertically on a gurney during his aborted execution in September. State officials called off the November execution of Kenneth Eugene Smith after they were unsuccessful in connecting the second of two required lines.
Ivey announced in February that the state was resuming executions. Alabama Corrections Commissioner John Hamm said prison system had added to its pool of medical professionals, ordered new equipment and conducted additional rehearsals.
Attorneys for Barber had argued that his execution "will likely be botched in the same manner as the prior three."
The Supreme Court denied Barber's request for a stay without comment. Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented from the decision in a writing joined by Justice Elena Kagan and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.
"The Eighth Amendment demands more than the State's word that this time will be different. The Court should not allow Alabama to test the efficacy of its internal review by using Barber as its 'guinea pig,'" Sotomayor wrote.
State officials wrote that the previous executions were called off because of a "confluence of events-including health issues specific to the individual inmates and last-minute litigation brought by the inmates that dramatically shortened the window for ADOC officials to conduct the executions."
In the hours leading up to the scheduled execution, Barber had 22 visitors and two phone calls, a prison spokesperson said. Barber ate a final meal of loaded hashbrowns, western omelet, spicy sausage and toast.
One of the changes Alabama made following the internal review was to give the state more time to carry out executions. The Alabama Supreme Court did away with its customary midnight deadline to get an execution underway in order to give the state more time to establish an IV line and battle last-minute legal appeals.
- In:
- Alabama
- Death Penalty
- Capital Punishment
- Murder
- execution
veryGood! (6)
Related
- Finally, good retirement news! Southwest pilots' plan is a bright spot, experts say
- GOP lawmakers try to thwart abortion rights ballot initiative in South Dakota
- Missouri woman's 1989 cold case murder solved after person comes forward with rock-solid tip; 3 men arrested
- Watch this missing cat come wandering home
- Rolling Loud 2024: Lineup, how to stream the world's largest hip hop music festival
- Blake Lively Reveals Rule She and Ryan Reynolds Made Early on in Their Relationship
- Celebrity owl Flaco dies a year after becoming beloved by New York City for zoo escape
- Beyoncé's use of Black writers, musicians can open the door for others in country music
- Federal hiring is about to get the Trump treatment
- Don't screw it up WWE: Women's championship matches need to main event WrestleMania 40
Ranking
- Hackers hit Rhode Island benefits system in major cyberattack. Personal data could be released soon
- An Army helicopter crash in Alabama left 2 pilots with minor injuries
- Bill headed to South Dakota governor would allow museum’s taxidermy animals to find new homes
- Vanessa Hudgens, Cole Tucker & More Couples Who Proved Love Is the Real Prize at the SAG Awards
- Romantasy reigns on spicy BookTok: Recommendations from the internet’s favorite genre
- Border Patrol releases hundreds of migrants at a bus stop after San Diego runs out of aid money
- The body of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been handed over to his mother, aide says
- Howard University is making history as the first HBCU to take part in a figure skating competition
Recommendation
Appeals court scraps Nasdaq boardroom diversity rules in latest DEI setback
1 dead, 3 injured following a fire at a Massachusetts house
Vigil held for nonbinary Oklahoma teenager who died following a school bathroom fight
MLB's jersey controversy isn't the first uproar over new uniforms: Check out NBA, NFL gaffes
Meet the volunteers risking their lives to deliver Christmas gifts to children in Haiti
When do South Carolina polls open and close for the 2024 primary? Key times for today's Republican vote
Kouri Richins' hopes of flipping Utah mansion flop after she is charged in the death of her husband Eric
Will Caitlin Clark go pro? Indiana Fever fans await Iowa star's WNBA draft decision