CINCINNATI — An inmate whose execution was put on hold as he argued that Ohio’s method of lethal injection was unconstitutional can die as scheduled next month, now that the state has instituted a different method, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday.
Kenneth Biros would be the first inmate executed under the state’s change from a three- drug intravenous injection to a one-drug IV injection. A U.S. District Court judge had temporarily delayed his execution after an unsuccessful attempt to execute another inmate.
The state announced Nov. 13 that it was changing its protocol, effective Monday, after the Sept. 15 attempt to execute Romell Broom, who said in an affidavit that executioners painfully hit muscle and bone during as many as 18 attempts to reach a vein.
