Many
death penalty states have struggled to obtain a lethal injection drug
that Texas has consistently been able to procure. In a filing Thursday
in Oklahoma, lawyers provided evidence that Texas sold pentobarbital to
Virginia in August.
The
state of Texas is making its own execution drugs and has sold them to
at least 1 other death penalty state, an inmate facing execution in
Oklahoma alleges in a court filing Thursday. His attorneys point to
documents that show the Texas Department of Criminal Justice sold
pentobarbital to Virginia in late August.
Pentobarbital
is a sedative that many death penalty states, including Oklahoma, have
claimed is impossible for them to get their hands on. As a result, some
states have turned to midazolam, a drug that critics argue is
significantly less effective. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the use of
midazolam in executions this June.
The
records submitted as part of the new filing show that Virginia received
150 milligrams of the drug. Under the heading "Name of Supplier," the
Texas Department of Criminal Justice is listed.
The
labels do not identify the pharmacy that prepared the drug. However,
the lawyers for the Oklahoma inmate state that the labels were created
by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, which they also allege "is
compounding or producing pentobarbital within its department for use in
executions."
On
Friday, Texas confirmed to BuzzFeed News that it sent the execution
drugs to Virginia. A spokesman said it was to repay Virginia for having
given Texas drugs in the past.
"In
2013, the Virginia Department of Corrections gave the Texas Department
of Criminal Justice pentobarbital to use as a back up drug in an
execution," spokesman Jason Clark said. "Virginia's drugs were not
used."
"The
agency earlier this year was approached by officials in Virginia and we
gave them 3 vials of pentobarbital that [were] legally purchased from a
pharmacy. The agency has not provided compounded drugs to any other
state. Texas law prohibits the TDCJ from disclosing the identity of the
supplier of lethal injection drugs."
In a statement, the Virginia Department of Corrections said it intended to use the pentobarbital next week.
"The
Department did recently obtain pentobarbital from the Texas Department
of Criminal Justice," spokesperson Lisa Kinney said. "That pentobarbital
is scheduled to be used in the Oct. 1 execution of Alfredo Prieto.
There was no payment involved."
Kinney added that questions about who made the drug would have to be directed to Texas.
The
lawyers raise these issues to make the argument that Oklahoma could
avoid the use of the controversial midazolam drug in its executions. It
could do so, they argue, by purchasing pentobarbital from Texas, like
Virginia, or by "compounding or producing pentobarbital in the same
manner as does TDCJ."
States
have struggled to obtain execution drugs for years after makers enacted
more stringent guidelines to keep them away from states that would use
them for executions.
The
idea of a state-run lab making its own death penalty drugs is something
Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster raised last year, although many
wondered how it could be done. Missouri, like Texas, has had no trouble
obtaining pentobarbital.
Source: BuzzFeedNews.com, Sept. 25, 2015
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