It’s unlikely Gov. Bill Lee will call a death penalty moratorium before Tennessee’s next execution. Calls for a temporary suspension, investigation and corrective action plan have been ramping up since May.
That’s when the Tennessee Department of Correction tried and failed to execute Tony Carruthers. The medical team couldn’t establish a typical intravenous line into his arms. The protocol says in that case, the back-up plan is to have the on-site physician place a central line in a larger, deeper vein. Dr. Mark Fowler made several attempts, but ultimately failed. In all, the incident spanned about an hour. Attorneys challenging the lethal injection protocol raised concerns that Fowler hadn’t placed a central line in more than a decade and would struggle to perform the procedure if needed.
Gov. Bill Lee called into the prison that day to halt the execution attempts. He gave Carruthers a reprieve of one year…