The drug that stopped an execution

Kelly Gissendaner, the only woman on Georgia's death row, had her execution postponed. Source: AP

Gissendaner's execution was stopped after the drugs she was to be injected with were deemed cloudy. Source: AFP

KELLY Gissendaner was literally minutes away from receiving a fatal drug which would have seen her become the first woman to be executed in her state in 70 years.

But the woman, who made global headlines after ordering a massive last meal, had her execution postponed due to a last minute discovery that forced officials to call it all off.

Authorities said they were not satisfied with the quality of the drug that she was going to be injected with, calling it "cloudy."

A Georgia Department of Corrections spokeswoman confirmed they were postponing the execution "out of an abundance of caution" after discovering the drugs were not potent enough.

The 46-year-old had eaten a 3400 calorie last meal that included two Burger King Whopper burgers, corn bread, popcorn salad and ice cream and was set to die at 7pm local time on Monday.

Gissendaner, the only woman on Georgia's death row, was waiting to hear if the US Supreme Court would stop her execution when prison officials postponed it about 11pm, citing a possible problem with the drug.

It was that drug discovery which saved her life, for now, prompting prison officials to also delay the upcoming execution of Brian Terrell, who was scheduled to be put to death on March 10. Terrell was set to die by lethal injection next week for the 1992 murder of John Henry Watson.

Officials have not confirmed if and when either execution will go ahead.

THE DRUG:

Georgia currently uses pentobarbital in a one-drug protocol for executions.

States including Georgia have been scrambling since European pharmaceutical companies began restricting the flow of lethal drugs to places that conduct executions.

According to Michael Jay, a professor at the University of North Carolina's Eshelman School of Pharmacy, the cloudiness could be contamination by bacteria or some impurity.

If the particles were big enough, they could clog blood vessels when injected or could lodge in the lungs, Mr Jay said.

It could also make the drug less potent, making an inmate very sleepy but not kill them, he said.

"If it's a solution that's supposed to be clear and it's not clear, it should never be injected," Mr Jay said. "So they did the right thing by not injecting it."

Lethal injection has come under debate in the US in recent years. Source: ThinkStock

It is understood the chemicals which were supposed to kill Gissendaner were obtained through a specialty pharmacy.

Prior to the execution, the drugs were sent to an independent lab for testing of potency and they fell within the acceptable testing limits, officials said.

But, tests showed the pentobarbital was 'cloudy' and may have caused undue suffering or not killed her, which is why officials decided to postpone the execution.

At one point officials said they weren't sure whether they checked "this week's or last week's" batch. A day later, they decided to temporarily halt all executions until they could more carefully analyse the cloudy pentobarbital.

LETHAL INJECTION DEBATE:

The cloudy drug bolstered death penalty opponents, who have been vocal in their opposition after several botched executions in other parts of the US and the increasing use of compounding pharmacies for execution drugs.

Many death penalty states have also adopted secrecy laws to hide the identity of their drug providers.

A 2013 Georgia law prohibits the release of any identifying information about the source of execution drugs or any entity involved in an execution, classifying that information as a "confidential state secret."

Lethal injection has come under close scrutiny in recent years in the United States.

Last year, Oklahoma prisoner Clayton Lockett died of a heart attack following a botched lethal injection which saw him take 43 minutes to die.

The convicted murderer's execution involved the use of a new cocktail of drugs that included the sedative Midazolam as the first in a three-drug combination. But the drugs did not have the intended effect.

Lockett grimaced, tensed his body and raised his head and chest several times during the three-minute period that reporters were permitted to watch.

Lockett sat up and said: "something's wrong" just minutes into the execution.

Midazolam was among the same combination of drugs used to kill convicted Ohio murderer Dennis McGuire who gasped several times during his prolonged execution. He was still for almost five minutes, before he emitted a loud snort and also opened and shut his mouth several times without making a sound.

McGuire took 15 minutes to die.

AN OHIO killer gasped several times during his prolonged execution with the first use of a lethal injection process never before tried in the US.

Dennis McGuire was executed via lethal injection last year. Source: AFP

HOW GISSENDANER'S CASE UNFOLDED:

Lawyers for Gissendaner, who was convicted of murder in the February 1997 slaying of her husband Douglas, said in a filing with the US Supreme Court that a lawyer for the state called them around 10:25pm to say the execution would be postponed several days.

The state's lawyer called back about five minutes later to say the prison wasn't sure which drugs they had checked, "this week's or last week's," and that they were considering going forward, the filing says.

The lawyer then called a third time, saying "this particular batch (of drugs) just didn't come out like it was supposed to" and they weren't going to proceed, according to the court filing.

At about 11pm, the state told reporters the drug was sent to an independent lab to check its potency and the test came back at an acceptable level, but the prison was postponing the execution "out of an abundance of caution."

Had the execution gone ahead as planned, Gissendaner would have become the first woman executed in Georgia since 1945 and would have been the only the 16th woman put to death nationwide since the Supreme Court allowed the death penalty to resume in 1976.

THE REACTION:

The impending execution sparked an online debate about the death penalty with a petition calling on Georgia Governor Nathan Deal to use his power to stop it.

The Stop Execution of Kelly Gissendaner had attracted more than 81,000 signatures, with its creators arguing the mother-of-three, theologic and pastoral figure had transformed.

There was also a Twitter hashtag #kellyonmymind where anti-death penalty campaigners voiced their disapproval of the punishment.

Gissendaner's case also sparked immediate calls of condemnation from human rights group Amnesty International which said the death penalty was an abhorrent form of punishment.

Amnesty said Gissendaner has completed a theological degree through an educational program run by Emory University and has served as a pastoral adviser for other prisoners.

Steven W Hawkins, executive director of Amnesty International USA, called for an immediate end to the punishment.

"Every execution is a blight on the human rights record of the United States," Mr Hawkins said.

"As long as prisoners continue to face this ultimate punishment, the US cannot truly claim to be a leader in human rights."

Amnesty International said it opposed the death penalty in all cases without exception, calling it a cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.

As of today, 140 countries have abolished the death penalty in law or practice, Amnesty figures show.

It added the US was one of only nine countries in the world which had carried out executions each year between 2009 and 2013.

A Texas execution chamber where prisoners have been put to death by lethal injection. Source: News Corp Australia

THE MURDER:

Gissendaner was sentenced to death for the 1997 killing of her husband Douglas, whom she had separated from several times before divorcing and remarrying.

Gissendaner recruited her lover Gregory Owen to carry out the murder and claim her husband's life insurance.

But while she didn't actually carry out the killing, her boyfriend pleaded guilty and testified against her and was sentenced to life imprisonment.

He will likely be free on parole within eight years.

THE REFORMED CHARACTER:

Kelly Gissendaner had a tough upbringing.

Court documents show she was born to a poor cotton farmer father and a mother who now works as a prison officer, and was sexually abused as a child by a string of men.

Despite her tragic life her lawyers argue she has turned her life around.

Douglas Gissendaner's parents and sisters wanted her to be executed, but two of Kelly and Douglas' three children asked the parole board to spare her life.

Gissendaner's lawyers said that the parole board already heard from many people testifying about her faith and remorse at a hearing last week before denying her clemency.

But, her lawyers argue, the board did not hear from many Department of Corrections employees whose perspective "would have left no doubt that a grant of clemency is supported in this case."

The most important witness the board did not hear from is Kathy Seabolt, who served as her warden for six years. Seabolt could testify that former parole board chair James Donald promised Gissendaner would receive clemency, her lawyers wrote.

After recent scrutiny into the death penalty method of lethal injection, which included the Supreme Court's ruling to halt an execution in Missouri, some states are revisiting older methods. Richard Dieter from the Death Penalty Information Center explains the implications. Photo: Getty.

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