Death-row inmate set to be executed December 1 but prison says it has no death drugs

Bobby Wayne Stone is scheduled to be executed on December 1, but only if the state can get more supplies of its lethal injection drug cocktail. Photo / AP

A death-row inmate set to die this week may have his life extended after making what is no doubt the biggest choice of his life.

Bobby Wayne Stone is scheduled to die on December 1 but has found a lifeline after the US state set to carry it out says it ran out of the drugs to perform the execution.

The execution of Stone is South Carolina's first since 2011 after the state's supreme court denied his most recent appeal.

Stone, 52, was convicted of murdering Sumter County sheriff Sgt Charlie Kubala in February, 1996, according to court documents. Stone, 31 at the time, had been drinking and wandering the woods when he approached a woman's home and began shooting two newly purchased firearms. He shot the responding police officer Sgt Kubala twice but says that his gun went off accidentally during the shooting. He was convicted of murder, first degree burglary and sentenced to death in 1997. Despite years of legal to-and-fro, he has been sitting on death row for the last 20 years. His inmate report says there have been no escape attempts or disciplinary action in that time.

Death row inmates in South Carolina can choose to be either executed by electric chair or lethal injection and in what could be a lifesaving decision Stone chose lethal injection. Though electrocution is an option, most inmates seldom choose the method.

According to the Department of Corrections website, the use of an electric chair in South Carolina began in 1912.

"A person convicted of a capital crime can elect to be executed either by lethal injection or electrocution," the site reads. "This election must be made in writing fourteen days before the execution date."

The United States has had a steady stream of executions this year, on track to end the year with two dozen lethal injections, up from 2016's record low, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

The problem for South Carolina is that its supplies of the drugs for its execution protocol — pentobarbital, pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride — expired in 2013.

It now casts doubt over the future of Mr Stone's execution and the 39 other inmates on South Carolina's death row.

Supplies of death drugs in all 31 US states that carry out the death penalty have dwindled in recent years due to changes in legislation and after Europe, who once provided the drugs, caved to pressure from international human rights organisations.

Now, South Carolina's Department of Corrections say drug companies won't sell the lethal cocktail needed for injection to prisons for executions and that the killing of Stone will not be able to go forward.

Major pharmaceutical companies refuse to sell their drugs for executions and force wholesalers to do the same after individuals and organisations say they "fear retribution" after receiving threats. They now only supply to states on condition they are guaranteed anonymity.

South Carolina's Governor, Henry McMaster, says he has made "intense efforts" to procure the three drugs, but he is unable to find a manufacturer willing to make provisions.

Governor McMaster is now calling for a law shielding the identity of the drug suppliers which means the seller of the death penalty drugs would remain a secret.

"They are afraid their names will be made known and they don't want to have anything to do with it for fear of retribution," McMaster said.

"We're at a dead stop and we can't do anything about it.

"The people of South Carolina have been clear in their support of justice, including the death penalty."

Talking to press outside Lieber Correctional Institution, the state's death row facility, near Ridgeville, South Carolina, director of the state's corrections department Bryan Stirling claimed the secrecy was "for justice".

"There are certain things, I think, the public has a right to know. In this case, I think the state wants to carry out justice," Stirling said.

"The family deserves it, the Court has ordered it and we're unable to carry out justice.
"Anytime we start the conversation with a company that makes the drugs … they ask, 'How would they be protected?"

South Carolina scheduled a mock execution for a prisoner who hasn't even finished his appeals yet. Gov. @henrymcmaster used the opportunity to argue for execution secrecy laws. If S.C. is willing to pull this kind of stunt publicly, what would they do in secret?

— Sister Helen Prejean (@helenprejean) November 27, 2017

Other states, like Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas, have passed laws protecting the supplier's identity, but in some cases, courts have overturned these laws and expressed their discontent.

The state of Nevada is currently in a stoush with Pfizer after the company demanded its diazepam be returned after it was purchased from a wholesaler for an upcoming execution. In May, 2016, Pfizer said it would block distribution of its drugs for executions in the 31 states that hold the death penalty. Nevada says it won't give it back.

Earlier this month, the execution of Alva Campbell was described as "two hours of torture" after medical personnel failed to find a vein on the chronically ill patient during his execution.

"He did say it was a day he'd never forget," said David Stebbins, Campbell's lawyer.
It was only the third time in modern US history an execution was stopped after it had already begun.

It's unclear what exactly will happen to Stone next, if the legislation is not passed and the state finds itself without the necessary drugs.

"I warned about this a couple of years ago in the General Assembly when I testified and said, 'We're going to be here one day. What are we going to do?'" Stirling warned.
According to the website, Stone might be forced into the electric chair.

"If execution by lethal injection is held to be unconstitutional by an appellate court of competent jurisdictions, the manner of inflicting a death sentence must be by electrocution," its rules state.

The Sumter Item reports the execution "has been delayed in response to a court order from his attorneys".