09 May 2017 :

Judge orders Arkansas to conduct autopsy on executed inmate Kenneth Williams. U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker ruled the ADC must request the state medical examiner's office collect the samples by 8 p.m. Friday night. On May 4 (see), Arkansas carried out the fourth of eight executions it scheduled over 11 days, putting Williams to death. An Associated Press reporter who witnessed Williams' execution Thursday says his body jerked 15 times in quick succession about three minutes into the process. Williams' attorneys released a statement calling witness accounts "horrifying" and demanding an investigation into what they called the "problematic execution". And the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas said the Eighth Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment may have been violated. As with the other executions, Williams' state killing was carried out with a three-drug protocol, beginning with the sedative midazolam, followed by the paralytic vecuronium bromide, and ending with potassium chloride to induce cardiac arrest. Williams's body reportedly jerked about 20 times after being given a lethal injection drug, and continued moaning and breathing heavily over thirteen minutes. Little Rock TV anchor Donna Terrell, who also saw the execution, told CNN affiliate KARK that Williams' chest started going up and down rapidly for a time after midazolam was administered, but Williams' face was expressionless, and it didn't appear as if he were in pain, she said.