The Last Gasp

by Scott Christianson

  44. Affidavit of Gloria H. Lyon, April 7, 1992, exhibit 22, vol. 1, Fierro v. Gomez.

  45. “California Suit Challenges State’s Use of Gas Chamber,” NYT, October 25, 1993.

  46. Kevin Fagan, “Mason Died as He Said He Would,” SFC, August 25, 1993; Marsha Ginsburg, “Eyewitness: No Dignity in Gas Chamber,” OT, August 24, 1993; Anne Krueger, “Killer Executed,” SDUT, August 24, 1993; Sam Stanton and Cynthia Hubert, “Mason Gets His Wish, Is Put to Death,” SB, August 24, 1993; David K. Li, “Watching Mason’s Death,” OT, August 25, 1993; David K. Li, “The Mason Saga Is Far from Over,” OT, August 25, 1993; Tracie Reynolds, “Mason Left Note, ‘Went Out Tough,’” OT, August 25, 1993; San Quentin Pre-Execution Activity Log, Fierro v. Gomez exhibit copy of EKG tape produced during the execution of David Mason.

  47. The U.S. Supreme Court had recently set standards proposed by Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharm., Inc., 509 U.S. 579 (1993) (adopting the following standard from Federal Rules of Evidence. 702: “If scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue” an “expert may testify thereto”).

  48. Some examples of articles consulted from the medical literature are J. Wexler, J.L. Whittenberger, and P.R. Dumke, The Effect of Cyanide on the Electrocardiogram of Man (Washington, DC: Clinical Research Section of Medical Division, Chemical Warfare Service, 1946), pp. 163–73; F.A. Pirzada, W.B. Hood, J.V. Messer, and O.H.L. Bing, “Effects of Hypoxia, Cyanide, and Ischaemia on Myocardial Contraction: Observations in Isolated Muscle and Intact Heart,” Cardiovascular Research 9 (1975): 38–45; J.B. Brierly, “Comparison Between Effects of Profound Arterial Hypotension, Hypoxia, and Cyanide on the Brain of Macaca Mulatta,” in Advanced Neurology, ed. B.S. Meldrum and C.D. Marsden (New York: Raven Press, 1975), pp. 213–21; B. Ballantyne, “Toxicology of Cyanides,” in Clinical and Experimental Toxicology of Cyanides (Bristol, England: Wright Publications, 1987), pp. 41–126.

  49. See, e.g., Chris Lambers, “State Scrambling to Get Gas Chamber Tested,” ADS, December 15, 1991; James Bandler, “Fred Leuchter: Killing Time and Death’s Efficiency Expert,” In These Times, June 20–July 3, 1990; “An ‘Expert’ on Executions Is Charged with Fraud,” NYT, October 24, 1990; Ron Rosenbaum, Travels with Dr. Death and Other Unusual Investigations (New York: Penguin, 1991); and Stephen Trombley, The Execution Protocol: Inside America’s Capital Punishment Industry (New York: Crown, 1992). Two acclaimed documentary films have been made about Leuchter: Trombley’s The Execution Protocol, released in 1992, and Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, by Errol Morris, released in 1999.

  50. R. v. Zündel, 37 O.A.C. 354 (1990) (Canada).

  51. See, e.g., Fred A. Leuchter, with a foreword by David Irving, The Leuchter Report: The First Forensic Examination of Auschwitz (London: Focal Point Publications, 1989); Fred A. Leuchter and Robert Faurisson, “The Second Leuchter Report,” Journal of Historical Review 10(3) (Fall 1990); Fred A. Leuchter, The Third Leuchter Report: A Technical Report on the Execution Gas Chamber at Mississippi State Penitentiary Parchman, Mississippi (Toronto: Samisdat Publishers, 1989); Fred A. Leuchter, The Fourth Leuchter Report: An Engineering Evaluation of Jean-Claude Pressac’s Book, “Auschwitz: Technique and Operation of the Gas Chambers” (Hamilton, Ontario: History Buff Books and Video, 1991); Fred A. Leuchter, Robert Faurisson, and Germar Rudolf, The Leuchter Reports: Critical Edition (Chicago: Theses & Dissertations Press, 2005).

  52. Some of this videotape was later used by Errol Morris in his documentary movie.

  53. Affidavit of Marshall L. Dayan, February 9, 1999. A copy was provided to the author by Mr. Dayan.

  54. Fierro v. Gomez, 865 F.Supp. 1387 (N.D. Cal. 1994).

  55. Ibid.

  56. See Denno, “Getting to Death,” pp. 342–43, for cites.

  57. Fierro v. Gomez, 865 F.Supp. at 1400.

  58. See In re Petition of Donald Thomas, 155 F.R.D. 124, 126–28 (D.Md. 1994).

  59. Fierro v. Gomez, 77 F.3d 301 (9th Cir. 1996).

  60. Denno, “Getting to Death.”

  61. See Gomez v. Fierro, 117 S. Ct. 285 (remanding for reconsideration in light of changed statute), vacating on other grounds, 77 F.3d 301 (9th Cir. 1996).

  62. Martin Kady II, “Putting a Face on the Politics of Death,” Washington Business Journal, May 17, 2002.

  12. THE LAST GASP

  1. For a description of the crime and prior proceedings, see State v. LaGrand, 734 P.2d 563 (Ariz. 1987), and LaGrand v. Stewart, 133 F.3d 1253 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 119 S. Ct. 422 (1998).

  2. Mark Shaffer, “No Reprieve for German Killer: International Focus on Ariz. Case,” AR, February 24, 1999.

  3. LaGrand (Karl) v. Stewart, 173 F.3d 1144 (9th Cir. 1999).

  4. Stewart v. LaGrand, 526 U.S. 115 (1999).

  5. See William J. Aceves, “Case Concerning the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (Federal Republic of Germany v. United States), Provisional Measures Order,” American Journal of International Law 93(4) (October 1999): 924–28.

  6. “German Executed in Arizona, Legal Challenge Fails,” CNN.com, March 5, 1999.

  7. Roger Cohen, “U.S. Execution of German Stirs Anger,” NYT, March 5, 1999.

  8. Denno, a leading authority on the constitutionality of execution methods, argues that “Fierro and other execution methods cases, while reaching the right result, fail to provide a sufficiently comprehensive Eighth Amendment standard for determining the constitutionality of any execution method.” Deborah W. Denno, “Getting to Death: Are Executions Constitutional?” Iowa Law Review 82 (1996–97): 321.

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