Execution of Tennessee inmate with heart device can go forward despite claims it may shock him
Lawyers for inmate Byron Black, 69, had argued to a Davidson County Chancery Court last month that the device, if not disabled, may try to restore his heart and prolong his suffering as he is executed by lethal injection.
But the Tennessee Supreme Court on Thursday reversed the lower court's ruling, finding that requiring the implanted heart regulating device to be switched off essentially amounts to a "stay of execution," which the chancery court does not have the authority to implement.
The state Supreme Court justices, however, did note that there's nothing preventing the state and Black's legal team from reaching an agreement for a deactivation procedure to be done before his execution Tuesday morning.
An implantable cardioverter defibrillator, or ICD, is installed in a patient's chest to deliver electric shocks to those with dangerously fast heartbeats and helps restore a regular rhythm.
Attorneys for Black filed a request Thursday to the state Supreme Court to temporarily halt the execution, writing that he could otherwise "be subject to the severe pain and suffering of having his heart repeatedly shocked back into rhythm during his execution."
One of his lawyers, Kelley Henry, also said she is asking Gov. Bill Lee to grant clemency for her client so that "Tennessee does not move forward with this gruesome spectacle." She also argued that Black is intellectually disabled and that his execution would violate the state Constitution.
Black was convicted in the 1988 shooting deaths of his girlfriend, Angela Clay, 29, and her two daughters, Latoya, 9, and Lakeisha, 6. Nashville police said that Black had previously threatened harm to Clay because she was considering ending their relationship, according to her sister.
Black previously faced three execution dates but those procedures were delayed, in part, because of a pause in state executions in 2022 due to issues in testing its lethal injection drugs.
Tennessee resumed executions in May under a new lethal injection protocol using pentobarbital, a sedative.
State Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said in a statement Thursday that he will "continue fighting to seek justice for the Clay family and to hold Black accountable for his horrific crimes."
He added that the state's experts do not believe Black would suffer severe pain during his execution and also rejected the description of him as being intellectually disabled.
In testimony last month before the Davidson County Chancery Court, medical experts for the state and Black argued over whether his ICD would, in fact, cause prolonged pain.
"Mr. Black will not be feeling the shocks as he will be in a coma" brought on by the lethal injection process, testified Dr. Litsa Lambrakos, a cardiac electrophysiologist at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.
But Dr. Gail Van Norman, an anesthesiology professor at the University of Washington who specializes in heart surgeries, suggested otherwise. She testified that the use of a potent amount of pentobarbital, which can cause death from respiratory failure, could unnecessarily trigger Black's defibrillator.
"ICDs sometimes deliver shocks when they're not needed," she said. "This is devastating to patients."
Black's execution is slated for Tuesday at 10 a.m., barring any court intervention or a reprieve from the governor.
As the legal process plays out, whether Black would even find a medical professional to disable his device is unclear. At issue is also the timing of when his device would be deactivated — his health could be at risk if it were done too soon and his execution was put on hold at the last minute.
Previously, a Tennessee Department of Correction official said that Nashville General Hospital would participate in such a procedure.
But hospital spokeswoman Cathy Poole said the facility "has no role in state executions."
"The correctional healthcare provider contracted by the Tennessee Department of Correction did not contact appropriate Nashville General Hospital leadership with its request to deactivate the implanted defibrillator," she said in a statement.
"Our contract with the correctional healthcare provider is to support the ongoing medical care of its patients," Poole added. "This request is well outside of that agreement and would also require cooperation with several other entities, all of which have indicated they are unwilling to participate."
The American Medical Association's code of ethics says physicians should not be forced to determine a prisoner's competency to stand execution or treat an incompetent condemned prisoner "if such activity is contrary to the physician's personal beliefs."
"As a member of a profession dedicated to preserving life when there is hope of doing so, a physician must not participate in a legally authorized execution," the code says.
While Black's case doesn't involve a doctor or hospital participating in an execution directly, the idea that the procedure is still part of the process would raise ethical questions for medical professionals, said Robin Maher, executive director of the nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center.
Black's legal team also says he suffers from other physical ailments, including advanced dementia, brain damage and kidney disease.
"I fear we are going to see many more of these situations as this population grows older," Maher said of death row inmates, who can spend decades behind bars appealing their cases before they are put to death. Restoring their health, either mentally or physically, only so they can be executed presents a further moral quandary, she added.
"This is the kind of case in which the governor should issue a reprieve that would be the saving grace for Mr. Black," Maher said.
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