By JESSIE L. BONNER
By JESSIE L. BONNER
Associated Press
BOISE, Idaho — Prison officials say they’ll work to carry out an execution next week as scheduled, after an appeals court sided with the Associated Press and other news organizations in ruling that witnesses should have full viewing access to a convicted killer’s lethal injection.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued the decision Friday, a day after hearing arguments in a lawsuit from the 17 news organizations seeking to change Idaho’s protocol, saying it’s unconstitutionally restrictive.
The case aimed to strike down a portion of Idaho’s regulations that prevent witnesses — including reporters acting as representatives of the public — from watching executions until after catheters have been inserted into the veins of death row inmates.
“Nearly a decade ago, we held in the clearest possible terms that ‘the public enjoys a First Amendment right to view executions from the moment the condemned is escorted into the execution chamber,” the judges said in their ruling Friday. “The State of Idaho has had ample opportunity for the past decade to adopt an execution procedure that reflects this settled law.”
It’s unclear how the ruling will affect the scheduled execution next week of Idaho death row inmate Richard Leavitt, who was convicted of the 1984 murder of a Blackfoot woman.
“We, of course, respect the court’s decision. We will take the necessary measures to assure that the execution continues as scheduled,” said Idaho Department of Correction spokesman Jeff Ray.
The lawsuit comes as lethal injections have drawn greater scrutiny, from whether the drugs are effective to whether the execution personnel are properly trained.
The news groups launched their appeal after a federal judge Tuesday denied their request seeking to prevent Leavitt’s execution without the changes.
The appellate judges, during arguments Thursday, noted that the 9th Circuit had already ruled in a 2002 California case that every aspect of an execution should be open to witnesses, from the moment the condemned enters the death chamber to the final heartbeat.
Idaho, Arizona, Washington and Montana have conducted 14 lethal injections since the 9th Circuit ruling in 2002, and half of each procedure has been behind closed doors.