LUCAS L. JOHNSON II
Associated Press Writer
NASHVILLE – The Tennessee Department of Correction said Monday that state executions will be moved up three hours to accommodate crime victims’ families, prison staff and the general public.
Correction Commissioner Gayle Ray said that after June 1, executions will take place at 10 p.m. instead of 1 a.m.
“I believe this change will have a number of benefits for those involved and those interested in the execution process, but it will not dramatically change the capital punishment protocol,” Ray said, adding that the change would also benefit court officials and the media.
She said over the past few years the state’s late executions had raised questions because individuals were “getting tired and worn out” waiting for the executions to take place.
Ray said a survey of 16 states with the death penalty show that most of them have set their executions earlier than midnight.
“It’s just a more favorable situation,” she said.
The last execution in Tennessee was in December, when 53-year-old Cecil Johnson was put to death for killing three people while robbing a Nashville convenience store. He was officially declared dead at 1:34 a.m.
While the state is changing its execution time, Ray told The Associated Press after Monday’s press conference that officials will keep using a three-drug cocktail for executions.
Officials in Washington state filed court paperwork earlier this month indicating it was switching to a one-drug system for executions.
Ohio switched in January after the botched execution of Romell Broom. Executioners unsuccessfully tried for hours to find a usable vein for injection, and Broom has appealed the state’s attempt to try again.
The three-drug method uses sodium thiopental, pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride. Only sodium thiopental, followed by a saline flush, is used in the one-drug policy.
Ray said Tennessee officials are satisfied with the three-drug method.
“We’ve never had any problems … so we’re not looking to change it,” she said.
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Associated Press writer Rachel La Corte in Olympia, Wash., contributed to this report.