Firing Squad

[Moscow Mule]

After being shot in the heart, blood actively will stop. The nerve cells in the cerebral cortex cease funtioning in two to six minutes. The nerve cells in the midbrain that control unconscious activity such as breathing can last up to thirty minutes. The nerve cells in the spinal cord can last an hour without blood flow. The doctor will normally certify death after 30 minutes.

So whenever you hear "he would have died instantly" it's utter bobbins?

[Paddy]

So whenever you hear "he would have died instantly" it's utter bobbins?

Yes!

[OwlHoot]

So whenever you hear "he would have died instantly" it's utter bobbins?

But I think he would lose consciousness pretty much instantly which, in the circs, is much the same.

I can't for the life of me understand why in the US a perp gets a say in how they are executed, but then Yankland is like the past - it's another country.

[NickFitz]

They are prison guards - not experienced marksmen shooting 1000s of rounds a week.

No, they're police officers: "...a five-man firing squad of police officer volunteers."

The Salt Lake Tribune interviewed three members of the firing squad from the last time they did this in 1996, for those who are interested.

[NickFitz]

I can't for the life of me understand why in the US a perp gets a say in how they are executed, but then Yankland is like the past - it's another country.

It's a Utah thing, not a US thing, and they abolished the executee's right to choose in 2004. This chap was still given the choice because he was sentenced before the law changed, which suggests they could teach HMRC a thing or two about the injustice of retrospective legislation, à la BN66.

[doodab]

How'd he do that then?

Carefully, I expect.

[Paddy]

It's wonderful, knowing how justice is dispensed.

Have you got one of those for ole sparky?

Capital punishment - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Electric chair - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


As of 2008 the only places in the world which still reserve the electric chair as an option for execution are the U.S. states of Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia. (Oklahoma, Arkansas and Illinois laws provide for its use should lethal injection ever be held to be unconstitutional). Inmates in the other states must select either it or lethal injection. In the state of Florida, on July 8, 1999, Allen Lee Davis convicted of murder was executed in the Florida electric chair "Old Sparky". Davis' face was bloodied and photographs taken, which were later posted on the Internet. The 1997 execution of Pedro Medina created controversy when flames burst from the inmate's head.

Electrical discharges, applied at short intervals, cause cardiac arrest and respiratory paralysis: an electrician, by order of the executioner, introduces the current for two minutes and eighteen seconds, changing the voltage from 500 to 2000 volts. If this is done too slowly; they fry. The prisoner sometimes jumps forward held back by straps, he urinates, defecates and vomits blood, internal organs are burnt, there is smell of burnt flesh. Though the sentenced should be unconscious after about five minutes. If it does not work first time the organs keep on working, so that further discharges are needed until no further movement of the prisoner is visible.

[PRC1964]

Capital punishment - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Electric chair - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


As of 2008 the only places in the world which still reserve the electric chair as an option for execution are the U.S. states of Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia. (Oklahoma, Arkansas and Illinois laws provide for its use should lethal injection ever be held to be unconstitutional). Inmates in the other states must select either it or lethal injection. In the state of Florida, on July 8, 1999, Allen Lee Davis convicted of murder was executed in the Florida electric chair "Old Sparky". Davis' face was bloodied and photographs taken, which were later posted on the Internet. The 1997 execution of Pedro Medina created controversy when flames burst from the inmate's head.

Electrical discharges, applied at short intervals, cause cardiac arrest and respiratory paralysis: an electrician, by order of the executioner, introduces the current for two minutes and eighteen seconds, changing the voltage from 500 to 2000 volts. If this is done too slowly; they fry. The prisoner sometimes jumps forward held back by straps, he urinates, defecates and vomits blood, internal organs are burnt, there is smell of burnt flesh. Though the sentenced should be unconscious after about five minutes. If it does not work first time the organs keep on working, so that further discharges are needed until no further movement of the prisoner is visible.

It almost makes being hung, drawn and quartered seem humane.

[Doggy Styles]

Electrical discharges, applied at short intervals, cause cardiac arrest and respiratory paralysis: an electrician, by order of the executioner, introduces the current for two minutes and eighteen seconds, changing the voltage from 500 to 2000 volts. If this is done too slowly; they fry. The prisoner sometimes jumps forward held back by straps, he urinates, defecates and vomits blood, internal organs are burnt, there is smell of burnt flesh. Though the sentenced should be unconscious after about five minutes. If it does not work first time the organs keep on working, so that further discharges are needed until no further movement of the prisoner is visible.

Does that mean they too "die instantly"?

Still, it demonstrates to everyone that, whatever baddies do, the state can do it too.

[Moscow Mule]

No, they're police officers: "...a five-man firing squad of police officer volunteers."

The Salt Lake Tribune interviewed three members of the firing squad from the last time they did this in 1996, for those who are interested.

USA police officers are not exactly marksmen either...