As the U.S. Supreme Court debates the issue of whether the lethal injection method used by Missouri and 36 other states is cruel and unusual, Missouri’s Corrections Director is moving to make sure it is at least uniform. Larry Crawford admits medical staff last October during the execution of Marlin Gray, used only half the anesthesia normally used. Crawford and the Missourinet’s own witness at the execution say nothing appeared out of the ordinary and Gray was executed without a hitch. Crawford says all executions in Missouri go that way – in a very humane way. But Crawford does not want any variance on how the procedure will be carried out to cast any cloud of doubt on that process. He’s ordering that, according to the prisoner’s size, uniform doses of the three-drugs are always used. Crawford says any variance from here on out would have to be approved by him.
