COLUMBUS, Ohio—A condemned Ohio killer who survived a 2009 botched execution is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to declare that a second attempt to put him to death would be unconstitutional.
Lawyers for death row inmate Romell Broom argue that giving the state prisons agency a second chance would amount to cruel and unusual punishment and double jeopardy.
A divided Ohio Supreme Court rejected Broom’s arguments in March. Broom’s attorneys appealed that ruling earlier this month to the U.S. Supreme Court and filed notice of that appeal on Monday with the state court.
The state stopped Broom’s execution after two hours when executioners failed to find a usable vein following 18 attempts to insert needles.
The 60-year-old Broom is only the second inmate in U.S. history to survive an attempted execution.
“The day they tried to execute him was horrendous,” Broom’s lawyer Adele Shank told CNN.
“Because Broom’s life was never at risk since the drugs were not introduced, and because the state is committed to carrying out executions in a constitutional manner, we do not believe that it would shock the public’s conscience to allow the state to carry out Broom’s execution,” Justice Judith Ann Lanzinger said in the majority opinion.
Epoch Times contributed to this report
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