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Jul 1, 2008 12:30 pm US/Eastern
Florida Prepares To Execute Convicted Child Killer
Mark Dean Schwab Is Scheduled To Die On Tuesday
Execution To Be Held At The State's Death Chamber In Starke
TALLAHASSEE (CBS4) ―
A man accused of raping and killing an 11-year-old faces execution at Florida State Prison near Starke.
Unless he receives a last-minute stay, Mark Dean Schwab will die by lethal injection Tuesday evening for the 1991 rape and slaying of Junny Rios-Martinez of Cocoa.
He will be the first death row inmate to be executed since Angel Diaz in December 2006. During Diaz's execution, the lethal injection needles were accidentally pushed through his veins, causing the chemicals to go into his muscles instead. This delayed his death for 34 minutes, nearly twice as long as normal.
That prompted a state investigation into the state's lethal injection system.
Schwab is being executed under a new protocol, which he has unsuccessfully challenged in the courts. The new procedure for execution requires the warden to make sure the inmate is unconscious following the injection of the first chemical, sodium pentothal. Pancuronium Bromide will then be injected to paralyze the condemned man's muscles; finally potassium chloride will be injected to stop the heart.
Schwab and his attorneys aren't so sure the problems are fixed.
An analysis done for Schwab's lawyers showed that nine of the 30 mock executions performed by Florida's Department of Corrections were failures. Correction officials say the mock exercises have included preparation for potential problems such as a combative inmate, the incapacity of an execution team member, power failure and finding a vein.
The state has argued successfully in several courts that the procedure meets all constitutional tests against cruel and unusual punishment and that Schwab cannot raise the issue again.
On Friday, the Florida Supreme Court rejected Schwab's latest appeal claiming the new procedure still carries the risk of causing intense pain and suffering.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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