Tennessee Carries Out First Execution Since Lethal Injection Review

Philip R. Workman was convicted 25 years ago for killing a Memphis police officer. The day for his execution was today after five times of it being stayed. His execution took place this morning at Riverbend prison on the industrial outskirts of this cit

This is the first execution since Tennessee reviewed and revised their procedures for lethal injections. Mr. Workman's attorneys made appeals to stay the execution in the Tennessee Supreme Court and in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Mr. Workman's attorneys argued in the appeals that there had not been sufficient time to review the new protocols since their release last week, and that lethal injection was unconstitutional cruel and unusual punishment.

This was only the third execution in Tennessee in 47 years. It looked like the attorneys might get the delay because of the new death penalty procedures. After a federal judge ordered a delay and set a date for the hearings an appeals court panel threw the order out Monday and refused to see the decision. On Tuesday the U.S. Supreme Court and the states court refused the requests to stay the execution.

Mr. Workman was pronounced dead at 1:38 a.m. central time, according to Tennessee Department of Correction spokeswoman Dorinda Carter.

Tennessee is among a small group of states that have been examining the procedures for lethal injections and this case has caused a national debate.

Tennessee and most of the 36 other states that use lethal injection have a three-drug regimen that has been criticized. In California, a federal judge ruled last year that the state's lethal injection protocol violated the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

The American Bar Association has called for an extension on the moratorium and to have a broader review of the death penalty in Tennessee. Some serious problems have been reported on how the death penalty is carried out. One such problem was in Florida where it took an inmate 34 minutes to die and another in Ohio where it took 90 minutes for an inmate to die.