Abstract
Three hours. That’s how long it took the state of Alabama to kill Joe Nathan James by lethal injection in 2022, setting a new record for the longest execution in United States history. James’s autopsy showed puncture wounds and bruising at the knuckles and wrists, indicating that executioners had tried (and failed) to insert an IV in those locations. It revealed puncture wounds in his musculature, nowhere near the anatomical vicinity of a vein. And it documented a deep, jagged incision that pathologists suspect occurred when James flinched as executioners were attempting to perform a “cutdown”— a surgical incision used to expose a vein for IV access when all else has failed...
Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
2025
Recommended Citation
Lain, Corinna, "Secrets of the Killing State: The Untold Story of Lethal Injection Introduction" (2025). Law Faculty Publications. 1743.
https://scholarship.richmond.edu/law-faculty-publications/1743
