An Atlanta federal appeals court unanimously ruled that a Georgia man on death row for murder can continue a lawsuit that would allow him to be executed by a firing squad instead of the sedative cocktail the state uses in lethal injections.
Michael Nance has asked to be put to death by a firing squad and argued that his use of the drug gabapentin for back pain reduced his brain’s receptiveness to sedatives and would cause him to suffer severely during his state-sanctioned execution.
GEORGIA LAWMAKERS TO FOCUS ON GUN CONTROL
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously this week that Nance could proceed with his case. He had previously had his firing squad lawsuit dismissed in federal court, but the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision last year, ruled that Nance was within his constitutional rights under the Eighth Amendment, which prevents cruel and unusual punishment. The justices kicked the case back down to the lower court.
Nance was sentenced to death in 2002 after fatally shooting bystander Gagor Balogh, 42, during a bank robbery.
The three-judge panel in the 11th Circuit disagreed with the Georgia Department of Corrections’ argument that Nance’s gabapentin claims failed to show that the lethal injection drug “creates a substantial risk of harm” and that wanting to be shot to death was not a plausible alternative.
The judges pointed to other states, such as Utah, carrying out executions by firing squad and said while it may take some time to get that method of execution into state law, it was still doable.
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However, if state lawmakers are unable to pass legislation that would change the way Georgia is allowed to kill inmates on death row, Nance will escape execution.
The last time a firing squad was used in the United States was in 2010 when convicted murderer Ronnie Lee Gardner was put to death in Utah.
