TakePart Live: Is a Firing Squad More Humane Than Lethal Injection? Samantha Cowan - TakePart
go to original July 24, 2014

Joseph Wood struggled to breathe during his two-hour execution by lethal injection in Arizona yesterday. (TakePart)

Something went wrong in Joseph Wood's execution. Death by lethal injection typically lasts around 10 minutes, but Wood gasped for breath for the two hours it took for him to die. Debates over the death penalty are heated, but the hosts all agree that a painful two-hour death qualifies as cruel and unusual punishment. Sal Masekela even wonders whether death by gallows or firing squad would be more humane.

The Associated Press reported:

A condemned Arizona inmate gasped for more than an hour and a half during his execution Wednesday before he died in an episode sure to add to the scrutiny surrounding the death penalty in the U.S.

Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne's office said Joseph Rudolph Wood was pronounced dead at 3:49 p.m., one hour and 57 minutes after the execution started.

Wood's lawyers had filed emergency appeals with federal and state courts while the execution was underway, demanding that it be stopped. The appeal said Wood was "gasping and snorting for more than an hour."

Gov. Jan Brewer said later that she's ordering a full review of the state's execution process, saying she's concerned by how long it took for the administered drug protocol to kill Wood.

Watch the full episode and the latest clips from TakePart Live, hosted by Jacob Soboroff and Meghan McCain.

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