First Lethal Injection with New Procedures: Man Executed Less than 4 years after Killing Wife

On July 13, 2006, the State of Ohio executed Rocky Barton for the 2003 murder of his wife. Barton became the first person executed under Ohio's new procedures. Prisons Director Terry Collins ordered a revision of procedures after problems developed at the May 2 execution of Joseph Clark. Clark’s lethal injection was delayed more than 60 minutes when a vein collapsed and medical technicians struggled to restore an intravenous line. Barton was examined the day before the execution, and it was found that his veins were not at risk for collapse. The execution team also was told to take its time in connecting the lethal injection lines so there was no "artificial time barrier," Collins said.

For more information, see the Cincinnati Law Library's blog post from July 3, 2006.