Botched Execution of Death Row Prisoner Raises Concerns: ‘This Can Only Be Described as Torture’

The botched execution of an Alabama death row inmate that has been described as “torture” is raising concerns.

Late on Thursday, Feb. 22, death row inmate Doyle Lee Hamm, who has been on death row for 30 years for the 1987 murder of a motel clerk, was subject to what has been described as “torture” after a botched execution attempt, NBC News reports. According to Hamm’s attorney, Bernard Harcourt, the execution team was unable to find a good vein to inject the lethal medication due to Hamm’s history of drug use, leading to them simultaneously working “on both legs at the same time, probing his flesh and inserting needles.”

Following the incident, Harcourt went to federal court and convinced a judge to allow a doctor of his choice to examine Hamm, allowing them to learn the full extent of the inmate’s injuries as a result of the ordeal.

“The IV personnel almost certainly punctured Doyle’s bladder, because he was urinating blood for the next day,” Harcourt said. “They may have hit his femoral artery as well, because suddenly there was a lot of blood gushing out. There were multiple puncture wounds on the ankles, calf, and right groin area, around a dozen.”

Harcourt also added that during the execution, Hamm “was lying there praying and hoping that they would succeed because of the pain, and collapsed when they took him off the gurney.”

Harcourt claims that he had warned that finding a good vein to deliver the lethal drugs would be impossible, but a judge ruled that the execution could proceed as long as the IV wasn’t inserted into Hamm’s arms.

A judge has since ordered the Department of Corrections to preserve the notes and any other material from the execution, including the clothing Hamm was wearing at the time. Harcourt’s request to examine the execution chamber was turned down by a judge.

State officials have not responded to a request for comment following the execution.