Nebraska conducts first US execution with fentanyl

CHICAGO - Nebraska on Tuesday carried out America's first execution using fentanyl -- the opioid at the center of the country's deadly overdose crisis -- as part of a previously-untested, four-drug combination.

Carey Dean Moore, sentenced to death for two 1979 murders, was the first prisoner executed in the Midwestern state in 21 years, in what was its first ever lethal injection. 

The 60-year-old was pronounced dead at 10:47 am (1547 GMT). The execution lasted approximately 20 minutes, according to Scott Frakes, director of the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services. 

Moore's execution survived a last-minute legal challenge from a drug company and protests about the new lethal injection protocol. 

It was a pivotal test for Nebraska, where the state legislature abolished the death penalty in 2015, only to see voters reinstate it the next year in a referendum. The state last performed an execution in 1997 by electric chair.

"I recognize that today's execution impacts many people on many levels," said Frakes. 

The execution was carried out with "professionalism, respect for the process and dignity for all involved," he said. 

QUESTIONS ABOUT DRUGS USED

The lethal injection consisted of the sedative diazepam to bring on unconsciousness, the painkiller fentanyl citrate, the muscle relaxer cisatracurium to stop breathing, and potassium chloride to stop the heart.

Only potassium chloride has been used before in executions.

Robert Dunham, director of the Death Penalty Information Center, said the new procedure was an indication of the trouble states are having in acquiring death penalty drugs.

"It indicates that states are looking for drugs that are available," Dunham told AFP. 

Pharmaceutical manufacturers and providers have been increasingly hostile to selling such drugs to states. Officials across the country have had to scramble to find the execution drugs they need or find alternatives. 

Dunham said Nebraska's use of fentanyl was problematic, because use of the powerful opioid is closely controlled by law, and the state has not disclosed its source for the drug.

"The manner in which they obtained it is highly questionable," he said. 

COURTS WEIGH IN 

Last week, German drug maker Fresenius Kabi challenged Nebraska with regards to two other drugs in the protocol, claiming the company was the likely source of the substances, and if so, Nebraska improperly obtained them.

It demanded that the state disclose the source of its drugs. 

But the state insisted the drugs were legally acquired and both a federal judge and an appellate court sided with Nebraska.

Even the pope himself was not able to change Moore's fate. 

Two weeks ago, Pope Francis changed the Catholic Church's teaching, declaring the death penalty "inadmissible" in all cases. 

Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts, a Catholic who supported the reinstatement of the death penalty, was resolute. 

"While I respect the pope's perspective, capital punishment remains the will of the people," Ricketts said.

A handful of demonstrators gathered during the rainy morning to protest the execution. A small group also gathered in the early evening in the state capital Lincoln to criticize the governor's decision. 

"Ricketts would kill Jesus," one protester's sign read.

The American Civil Liberties union also criticized the governor, saying he had carried out an execution "shrouded in secrecy." 

"The 38-year-long journey to this execution further proves what we've been saying all along: The ACLU believes the death penalty in America is a broken process from start to finish and should be abolished nationwide," the group said in a statement.

'I AM GUILTY'

Moore had been on death row for 38 years and did not want further delays of his execution. 

In 1980, while still in his early 20s, he was sentenced to death for the killings the year prior of two Omaha taxi drivers five days apart. 

Expressing contrition, he admitted to fatally shooting the first driver during a robbery committed with his brother, and killing the second driver to "foolishly" prove to himself that he could commit murder on his own. 

In his final words, Moore alluded to a written statement dated August 2, in which he pointed to other Nebraska death row inmates who claim their innocence. 

"I am guilty, they are not," he wrote. "Why must they remain there one day longer?"

Moore also asked forgiveness from his brother. 

Moore's execution was the 16th in the United States this year, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. 

nov/ia

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Review: 'Nebraska' deserves Oscar best picture nod

Truth be told, I would probably never have watched this film if only based on the little I have heard about it at first. This film is about a very old man on a road trip with his son, probably fixing their relationship along the way. Certainly nothing new about that topic, and sounded like it would be a boring ride.

Thankfully it was nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars, so I watched it. In return, I got rewarded with a most poetic and heartfelt film.

"Nebraska" is about Woody Grant, a senior citizen in Billings, Montana, already teetering in and out of senility. One day, he received one of those junk mail from a magazine company, announcing that he has won a million dollars. Despite admonitions from his family, Woody firmly believes he won, and wanted to go to Lincoln, Nebraska to collect his prize. His son David was forced to make this long drive with his dad. As they make a stop in his dad's old hometown and gets reacquainted with their kin, David gets to know his dad more than he ever knew him before.

Reading my short synopsis alone does not do the whole film justice, of course. This is an experience you need to immerse yourself into. OK, it is true that the "million dollar ticket" misunderstanding could have been explained more easily than what was shown on screen stretched out for almost two hours. But looking beyond that main flaw, the film itself turned out to be a thing of elegantly told beauty. The crisp black-and-white cinematography and languid pace by Director Alexander Payne worked favorably in its favor.

Bruce Dern played Woody in a quiet, most touching, low key and realistic manner. He is certainly a dark horse in the Best Actor race. In contrast, June Squibb steals her scenes as his tough, frank and cranky wife Kate. Her nomination for Best Supporting Actress is a fine recognition of this performance.

Comedian Will Forte plays it straight here as David. We can identify with him as he tries his best to reconnect with his aging dad through this tough time. Stacy Keach plays, as he usually plays, an effective villain in the person of an old bully neighbor.

This film is about folk in the heartland of America, but I guess characters like these exist everywhere on earth, and we can relate. We will all get touched by the time the ending comes. So well set-up, that ending! Made the whole film worth watching. I did not feel bored at all, despite my initial worry.

This special film is engaging and involving, fully deserving of its Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Actor, Supporting Actress and Best Cinematography. 9/10

This review was originally published in the author's blog, "Fred Said."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com