Crime

Johnson seeks to die by poisonous gas, not lethal injection

St. Louis Public Radio | By Marshall Griffin,

Marshall Griffin

Published August 2, 2016 at 11:25 PM CDT

Ernest Lee Johnson came within minutes of being executed last November when the U.S. Supreme Court issued a stay.

He challenged Missouri's use of pentobarbital, saying it could cause severe pain because he still has a brain tumor, even though most of it was removed during surgery eight years ago.

The new filing, made Monday at the U.S. District Court in Kansas City, seeks to allow Johnson to be administered nitrogen while wearing a mask, called nitrogen-induced hypoxia. His attorney, Jeremy Weis, says it would be a safe, inexpensive and readily available alternative that would meet the legal requirement for executions in Missouri.

Johnson was sentenced to death for killing three convenience store workers in Columbia in 1994.

"Missouri's execution statute allows for two methods, either lethal gas or lethal drugs," Weis said. "It doesn't prescribe which lethal drugs or which lethal gas, it doesn't describe the method of execution; it just allows for those two and it leaves it up to the Department of Corrections to come up with a procedure that meets the statutory definition."

Nitrogen-induced hypoxia has been approved as a means of execution in neighboring Oklahoma, following a botched execution in 2014.

Doctors were able to remove some but not all of the tumor, resulting in what Weis said is a hole in Johnson's brain.

"They did a brain scan, an MRI, in 2011, and upon that examination it revealed scar tissue and some further complications, including a slight growth in the overall tumor size," he said.

A spokesperson for the state attorney general's office says they'll file a response by Aug. 22.

Follow Marshall Griffin on Twitter: @MarshallGReport

Crime

Marshall Griffin

Missouri Public Radio State House Reporter Marshall Griffin is a proud alumnus of the University of Mississippi (a.k.a., Ole Miss), and has been in radio for over 20 years, starting out as a deejay. His big break in news came when the first President Bush ordered the invasion of Panama in 1989. Marshall was working the graveyard shift at a rock station, and began ripping news bulletins off the old AP teletype and reading updates between songs. From there on, his radio career turned toward news reporting and anchoring. In 1999, he became the capital bureau chief for Florida's Radio Networks, and in 2003 he became News Director at WFSU-FM/Florida Public Radio. During his time in Tallahassee he covered seven legislative sessions, Governor Jeb Bush's administration, four hurricanes, the Terri Schiavo saga, and the 2000 presidential recount. Before coming to Missouri, he enjoyed a brief stint in the Blue Ridge Mountains, reporting and anchoring for WWNC-AM in Asheville, North Carolina. Marshall lives in Jefferson City with his wife, Julie, their dogs, Max and Mason, and their cat, Honey.

See stories by Marshall Griffin

Marshall Griffin

St. Louis Public Radio State House Reporter Marshall Griffin is a native of Mississippi and proud alumnus of Ole Miss (welcome to the SEC, Mizzou!). He has been in radio for over 20 years, starting out as a deejay. His big break in news came when the first President Bush ordered the invasion of Panama in 1989. Marshall was working the graveyard shift at a rock station, and began ripping news bulletins off an old AP teletype and reading updates between songs. From there on, his radio career turned toward news reporting and anchoring. In 1999, he became the capital bureau chief for Florida's Radio Networks, and in 2003 he became News Director at WFSU-FM/Florida Public Radio. During his time in Tallahassee he covered seven legislative sessions, Governor Jeb Bush's administration, four hurricanes, the Terri Schiavo saga, and the 2000 presidential recount. Before coming to Missouri, he enjoyed a brief stint in the Blue Ridge Mountains, reporting and anchoring for WWNC-AM in Asheville, North Carolina. Marshall lives in Jefferson City with his wife, Julie, their dogs, Max and Liberty Belle, and their cat, Honey.