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INTERNATIONAL - The use of lethal injection in the execution of the death penalty in the United States again raises the debate.
Some question the effectiveness of lethal injection after a death row inmate to be executed in Alabama was very painful.
Ronald Smith (45), who underwent the execution of the murder of a staff a grocery store in 1994, coughed and choked for 13 minutes before it was declared dead.
In total, the execution of which was held on Thursday (12/08/2016) it takes 34 minutes.
"Smith looks very difficulty breathing," said Kent Faulk, journalist news site al.com who witness the execution.
These conditions have allowed the government to intervene to investigate the execution procedure.
"Will be held an autopsy on the body of Ronald Smith to determine whether there is procedural error," said the commissioner of correctional Alabama, Jefferson Dumm.
Meanwhile, Alabama correctional agency spokesman Bob Horton said it had run all the execution procedures in accordance with the applicable protocol.
"At the beginning of the execution process, Smith, with his eyes closed, indeed coughed, but as far as we he did not suffer during the execution took place," said Horton.
Several US states that still apply the death penalty experiencing inventory shortages substance lethal injection for executions.
The condition that occurs due to a number of pharmaceutical companies no longer wanted to produce substances needed for the execution process.
Moreover, most pharmaceutical companies it is in European countries that have abolished the death penalty.
To "game" this condition, some US states, such as Alabama, adopted a three-drug method.
In this method, originally created asleep on death row, the second stage is to make his body paralyzed, before the final step to stop the heart.
Alabama using the drug midazolam for the first stage. Critics say the drug was not really make a death-row inmates to sleep before the second drug is injected.
Some prison officials said the last words he insists Smith is not going to give the last statement prior to execution.
However, his lips kept moving before and after the three drug substance was injected.
"His hands were clenched tight after the first injection is given. His left eye was also several times slightly open," said Faulk.
So far there has been no response from the prison management associated recognition of Kent Faulk.
Since January 2014, some executions in the US lasted less "smooth", for example, Dennis McGuire which takes 25 minutes and Clayton Lockett, who died after 43 minutes.
While there are many examples of failures, Virginia and Ohio next year will follow the footsteps of Alabama using midazolam in the execution process.
