04 January 2023 , 02:59
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Three imminent executions in the United States have been cast into doubt after the death row inmates claimed the Texas prison system plans to kill them with expired and unsafe drugs.
Robert Fratta, whose execution is scheduled for January 10, filed the lawsuit along with Wesley Ruiz and John Balentine, claiming that the drugs used would be a violation of state law.
The claim was denied by Texas prison officials, who insisted the state's supply of execution drugs is safe.
The case was put on hold on Friday when the Texas Attorney General's Office appealed to have the ruling made by a criminal court rather than a civil one.
Shawn Nolan, an attorney for Balentine and Ruiz, said execution procedures in Texas were shrouded in secrecy.
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John Balentine is among a group of death row inmates questioning the safety of execution drugs (Police handout)His clients are both due to be put to death in February.
The Independent reports that Texas lawmakers banned the disclosure of drug suppliers for executions starting in 2015, a decision upheld by the state's Supreme Court in 2019.
“Texas continues to just really rely on secrecy in these executions and that’s why they’re trying to do an end run around this lawsuit because they don’t want to tell anybody that these drugs are expired,” Nolan said.
Attorneys representing the trio are asking for a hearing to determine whether the prisoners are at “serious risk of pain and suffering in the execution process”.
Texas was the first state to use the lethal injection as an execution method in 1982 but in recent years has turned to compounding pharmacies to obtain pentobarbital, after traditional drug companies refused to sell their products to prison agencies.
“All lethal injection drugs are within their use dates and have been appropriately tested,” Amanda Hernandez, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, or TDCJ, said in an email reported by the Independent on Tuesday.
Nolan said that using expired drugs would violate several state laws, including the Texas Pharmacy Act and the Texas Controlled Substances Act.
Fratta joined the lawsuit after it was filed. Lawyers for all three inmates say they not trying to stop the state from “carrying out lawful executions.”
“If the state wants to go forward with these executions, they can do that. They just need to get non-expired drugs,” Nolan said.