Art work by Bill Lonard
Back in April, things were looking promising for my pen friend, William Leonard, because the Nevada Assembly had just passed a bill to abolish the death penalty in Nevada.
However, despair soon followed, when the bill died without a vote in the state senate.
Convicted mass murderer, Zane Michael Floyd, who has exhausted all his legal appeals, is scheduled to become the first prisoner on death row to be executed in Nevada for 15 years. Floyd, 45, was sentenced to death for killing four people and wounding a fifth in a shotgun attack at a Las Vegas grocery store in 1999. An exact execution date will be set during the week commencing July 26, after a death warrant is issued for Floyd in the Supreme Court.
There is however, one massive hurdle which may still confound those seeking Floyd's execution . The state has no drugs available that are suitable for a lethal injection .
Prison officials in Nevada had to relinquish all stocks of lethal injection drugs, following a lawsuit against the state, brought by drug manufacturers. The lawsuit alleged that illegal means had been employed in obtaining these drugs through a third party, without revealing for what use they were intended.
It has recently been disclosed, that Nevada prison officials plan to purchase s brand new cocktail of drugs, that have never been used before, for use in the state's first lethal injection in 15 years.
If this execution takes place, all prisoners who have exhausted their legal appeals, will be put to death as speedily as possible.
In his last letter of two weeks ago, Bill, who has exhausted all his legal appeals, made a very brief reference to the situation:
It is heart breaking to think of what is going to happen to Bill, who has already paid a high price for his crimes. He has been incarcerated since 1982 and endured solitary confinement for 30 of those years. He has suffered barbarism at the hands of his guards and has been subjected to a barrage of mental and physical cruelties within the prison system
I am personally opposed 100% to the death penalty but respect the views of any who disagree with me. I think however, that even they would be shocked by such barbaric treatment of a fellow human being.
If you find this situation shocking, why not drop a line to the Governor of Ely State Prison, and let your views be known.
The Governor
Ely State Prison
Ely NV 89301
U.S.A
Comments