PHOENIX — One day after the state's most recent execution we’re taking a deeper look into the process.
Murray Hooper was the third death row inmate Arizona has executed since executions resumed earlier this year.
Wednesday, media witnesses noted the time it took for the IV team to successfully place two.
“It took the IV team quite a while to find a vein and they finally went through the femoral artery,” said Mark Curtis.
Curtis also said at one point Hooper looked through the glass and said, “Can you believe this?”.
“It did take 10 minutes to do that whole procedure,” said media Bob Christie with the AP. “Then they went in and did a normal IV in that upper arm. The first one they missed, weren’t able to get a good flow, so they tried a second one and that was easily done.”
During the other two executions this year, witnesses also noted the IV team struggling.
“We know from the recent executions and executions conducted between 2010 and 2014, Arizona tends to have a pattern of going to the femoral vein and the question is why,” said former public defender Dale Baich. “How come the individuals who are selected to insert the lines, how come they cannot get a peripheral vein.”
Baich, who is now an adjunct professor at ASU, has witnessed 14 lethal injection executions.
ABC15 asked Baich how long it should take to insert IV’s.
“Look at it this way if you go to the doctor or to the hospital a nurse or a technician can get a line in there in a minute or two,” said Baich. “I understand the execution process is more stressful.”
He told ABC15 those inserting the lines need to be skilled.
“I question whether they have the necessary skill set,” said Baich.
The Arizona Department of Corrections Rehabilitation and Reentry policy says the IV team is selected by the ADCRR Director and consists of two or more people ranging from physicians to just "certified or licensed personnel".
“The IV Team will consist of any two or more of the following: physician(s), physician assistant(s), nurse(s), emergency medical technician(s) (EMTs), paramedic(s), military corpsman or other certified or licensed personnel including those trained in the United States Military. All team members shall be currently certified or licensed within the United States to place IV lines.”
The decision of where to place the IV's is by the IV team leader.
Thursday, we asked the department how they check the team's qualifications along with other questions. The ADRCC communications team sent a comment hours later and would only say the information was protected under state law.
The current Attorney General, Mark Brnovich, had previously promised to execute all of the state’s death row inmates who had exhausted their appeals by the end of his term.
So, we asked officials about future plans for executions Wednesday at a press conference.
“I don't know I mean we've had an election recently, so I think you need to ask that the of AG’s office,” said ADCRR Director of Communications, Judy Keane.
While he tweeted about Wednesday’s execution, the AG did not respond directly to our questions.
The long-term future rests with either Kris Mayes or Abe Hamedeh. Their race only separated by an extremely narrow margin, will go to a recount.
Thursday, Mayes wouldn't give us a comment and we didn't hear back from Hamedeh.
