Judge Jennifer Togliatti heard from condemned inmate Scott Raymond Dozier on Wednesday (Nov. 8). Dozier appeared in a Las Vegas, NV, courtroom, before the judge, via video conferencing from Ely State Prison where he awaits his execution by lethal injection scheduled for November 14.
Though the 46-year-old death row inmate has previously, repeatedly affirmed to Judge Togliatti that his stance on voluntary execution is unwavering, she presented Dozier with, yet, another opportunity to inform the court whether he has changed his mind, the Reno Gazette-Journal reported.
Dozier is on death row for killing Jeremiah Miller, 22, in Nevada and Jasen Green, 26, in Arizona. If his execution is carried through, he will be the first inmate put to death in the new $860,000 execution chamber at Ely State Prison. He would also be the first inmate executed in the state of Nevada in 11 years, the Los Angeles Times noted.
Condemned inmate’s mindset on dying by lethal injection, but not suffocation
The condemned inmate assured the judge once again that he isn’t going to change his stance on being executed. He stated that his “primary goal at this juncture is to get this done,” the Times relayed. The exception Dozier takes with the state’s planned lethal injection protocol, however, relates to the use of the paralytic drug cisatracurium.
The drug is unproven and untested in executions.
Though Dozier voluntarily asked Judge Togliatti to sign his execution warrant in August, Dozier’s federal public defenders and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) object to him being used as a guinea pig with the risk that he could suffocate to death.
Paralytic drug could cause complications
The fear is that using the paralytic drug could have complications, such as rendering Dozier incapable of signaling of something goes wrong when the death cocktail is administered. The additional drugs used in the state’s proposed three-drug cocktail also include diazepam and fentanyl.
Judge Togliatti questioned the state whether there is an ample supply of diazepam and fentanyl on-hand to administer the lethal combination of drugs. Jordan Smith, the state’s Assistant Solicitor General assured that prison officials have an excess of twice the amounts necessary for exacting capital punishment on November 14.
Judge wants state’s ranking medical official to approve lethal injection protocol
The judge did not rule that the state can execute Dozier. According to the Times, the execution will not advance until Nevada’s recently replaced Chief Medical Officer approves the lethal injection protocol. The state’s ranking medical official resigned after advising on the execution drugs to use and Nevada law mandates that the Chief Medical Officer oversee the execution, while not required to fulfill a hands-on role.
The potential for problems with the deadly combination of drugs surfaced when a medical expert told the court last week that the mixing a previously untested death drug cocktail with personnel who are not seasoned in administering the blend could lead to Dozier suffering.
A spokesman for the ACLU in Nevada, Wesley Juhl, expressed that the group finds it unsettling that cisatracurium has the capacity to obscure mistakes that may occur, the Times reported. According to Juhl, Dozier’s body would be incapable of reacting if the dosage levels of the diazepam and fentanyl are misjudged. As Dozier’s date with death approaches, the state’s Department of Corrections (DOC) staff has been “practicing everything,” so stated a spokesman for Nevada’s DOC, Brooke Keast, the Times relayed.
Judge Togliatti has scheduled another hearing today, which is anticipated to be the last one respective of the paralytic drug and if it will be administered on November 14.
