Capital punishment is a legal form of punishment in the U.S. state of Missouri. The state has executed the fifth largest number of convicts in the United States since re-legalization following Gregg v. Georgia in 1976.
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History
The first person executed in the modern era was George Mercer who was executed at the Missouri State Penitentiary in Jefferson City, Missouri on January 6, 1989. The next 61 executions starting with Gerald Smith were done at the Potosi Correctional Center in Potosi, Missouri. Since 2005, executions have been 25 miles east of Potosi at the Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Bonne Terre, Missouri. The first execution at Bonne Terre was #63 Donald Jones.
Temporary suspension
On June 26, 2006, U.S. District Judge Fernando J. Gaitan, Jr. of the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri in Kansas City suspended Missouri's death penalty after lengthy hearings on the matter. Judge Gaitan reasoned that the state's lethal injection protocol did not satisfy the Eighth Amendment because (1) the written procedures for implementing lethal injections were too vague, and (2) the state had no qualified anesthesiologist to perform lethal injections. Jay Nixon, the Missouri Attorney General, promptly appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in St. Louis.
The Eighth Circuit held oral argument in the case on January 10, 2007, and a decision was released on June 4, 2007. The case is number 06-3651, Taylor v. Crawford. The Court reversed the decision of the district court and vacated the injunction, allowing for the death penalty to resume. The court found:
The first execution since Gaitan's ruling was on May 20, 2009. This suspension was partly due to a national de facto moratorium while the Supreme Court of the United States decided Baze v. Rees. The court set the first Missouri post-Baze execution date in June 2008. For various reasons no executions were conducted until May 20, 2009
Capital crimes
The following constitute the capital crimes in Missouri:
A person convicted of first-degree murder may be sentenced instead to life in prison without parole.
As in any other state, people who are under 18 at the time of commission of the capital crime or mentally retarded are constitutionally precluded from being executed.
Method
Typically, the death warrant will be read to the inmate (handed down from the Missouri Supreme Court) 30 days prior to the date of execution. At this point, the inmate is either moved to protective custody or remains in solitary isolation. One week prior to the execution date, the inmate is moved to the medical confinement unit. This is to ensure that the inmate's interaction with other inmates and visitors is closely monitored. There is no contact allowed with the condemned inmate at this time. Three days prior, a medicinal regiment is started. Anxiolytics are started, and the inmate's religious instructor and legal services are the only ones allowed to see the inmate. For the last 24 hours, the inmate chooses his or her final meal. He or she is medicated for anxiety as needed. The viewing gallery is set up. One hour before the time, the inmate is offered last rites. Ten minutes before the time, the inmate is either wheeled into the chamber in a wheelchair, or he or she may walk. At this point, three doctors will place two central lines. Then, the three doctors will exit to a room behind the chamber. During this time, the witnesses have been led in, with the victim(s)'s witnesses entering from one side of the unit and the inmate's witnesses from the other side. When ready, the curtains will be opened. The inmate will be read the warrant again, and asked for any last statements. The warden is present and will give the order shortly after midnight. The three doctors will simultaneously push a button to start the machine to begin the process. After a doctor pronounces the inmate as expired, the curtains are closed. The witnesses are then escorted out of the facility, and the coroner retrieves the body, as the room is classified as a crime scene. The death certificate will read "cause of death: Homicide-legal:___________" (the space is for the warrant number). Once the body has left the facility, it will be announced over the radio that "the new inmate count is__, begin count." Each housing unit will conduct a count, and there will be no change, except that now the medical unit will report a count of zero inmates. The command will confirm the count, then order the Emergency Squad to stand down.