The New York Times

Saturday, February 5, 2000

JUSTICE BLOCK AN EXECUTION IN ALABAMA' S ELETRIC CHAIR

Montgomery, Ala., Feb. 4 (AP) - The United States Supreme Court halted a man's execution on Thursday in a decision that could give the justices their first chance to debate the constitutionality of electrocution.

The court granted a stay of execution on Thursday night to the man, Robert Lee Tarver Jr., who had eaten his last meal and given away his possessions. Mr. Tarver was to die just after midnight for the 1984 slaying of a rural store owner.

The court did not specify the reason for the stay, but Mr. Tarver's appeal, which was denied on Thursday by the Alabama court of Criminal Appeals and the Alabama Supreme Court, questioned the constitutionality of the electric chair.

Lawyers for Mr. Tarver, 52, contended that the electric chair was an impermissibly cruel process akin to torture that left inmates' bodies burned and disfigured.

"Alabama death row prisoners executed by electrocution are consistently burned excessively, occasionally electrocuted more than once due to human or mechanical failures and are always at risk of unnecessary pain and suffering," the appeal said.

In response, the state prison commissioner, Mike Haley, said death in the electric chair was "almost painless and immediate."

Last year, the United States Supreme Court agreed to review a similar claim from Florida. But it backed off last month when Florida changed its execution method to lethal injection, with inmates allowed to choose electrocution instead.

Only Alabama, Georgia and Nebraska still use electrocution as the sole means execution.

"I do not support this state doing what the state of Florida did," Attorney General Bill Pryor said today. "I do not believe that we should be bullied by the fear that the Supreme Court could rule against us."

The order by the court postponed Mr. Tarver's execution until the justices decided whether to grant full review to his appeal. There was no indication when that decision would be announced. If the court rejects Mr. Tarver's arguments, the state would be free to set a new execution date.

"It is my contention that the electric chair as a means of execution is constitutional," Gov. Don Siegelman said. "My concern is not whether the sentence is carried out by lethal injection or electrocution, but that it is carried out in a timely manner."

Mr. Siegelman has said he wants lethal injection legalized in Alabama, but only as a fallback if the courts outlaw the electric chair. The Legislature is considering two bills that would make injection the state's primary form of execution.

Alabama has used the electric chair since 1927. There was an 18-year gap in executions in Alabama during which the Supreme Court outlawed the death penalty and then allowed its reinstatement.

In 1983, John Evans became the first inmate to die in Alabama's chair under the reinstated law.

During Mr. Evens's execution - one of two complicated electrocutions cited in the appeal - the electrode on his leg spurted sparks and flames, then burst from the strap and caught fire. Smoke and sparks came from under Mr. Evans's hood. After the first two jolts of electricity, doctors found a heartbeat, and it was only after the third that he was declared dead.