Tennessee Court Rules Death Row Inmate Can Be Executed With Defibrillator Active
The Tennessee Supreme Court has ruled that a death row inmate, Byron Black, can be executed without deactivating his implanted defibrillator. This decision overturns a lower court’s order and allows for Black’s scheduled execution, as the court found the deactivation requirement constituted a stay of execution, which the lower court was not authorized to issue. The ruling does not address concerns about potential suffering caused by the defibrillator during the lethal injection, leaving open the possibility of deactivation if it does not interfere with the execution. Black was convicted of the 1988 shooting deaths of his girlfriend and her two daughters.
John Q. Hosedrinker