Death Penalty

Dr. Alan Doerhoff first came to the attention of the world as "John Doe 1", an anonymous physician who testified in 2006 in a federal court that during his participation in executions in Missouri, he had improvised drug dosages, had no set protocol and kept no records.  Dr. Doe supervised 54 executions in Missouri.

As a result of this testimony, Missouri's execution protocol was ruled unconstitutional due to an unnecessary risk of pain and suffering.  "John Doe 1" was specifically barred from participating in Missouri executions.  The St. Louis Post-Dispatch did some sleuthing and revealed that "John Doe 1" was in fact Dr. Alan Doerhoff, and that Dr. Doerhoff had been sued for malpractice 20 times and had been banned from some hospitals. 

So at least the system was able to remove this bad apple from the execution process, right?  Wrong. 

Briefs in a federal death penalty case in 2007 revealed that a "Protected person number 2" had devised the federal execution procedure and had participated in federal executions.  This "Protected person number 2", the L.A. Times eventually uncovered, was in fact Dr. Doerhoff, causing one attorney to opine that "[t]he federal government chose to rely upon the only person in the country who has been explicitly barred by a federal court from participating in lethal injection executions."

Now it has been revealed by the Arizona Republic that Dr. Doerhoff spent some time in 2007 in Arizona, participating in the execution of Robert Comer, who was put to death in May of last year.  Thursday's story points out that:

"The doctor's techniques appear to have influenced new Arizona procedures for execution by lethal injection, specifically a practice of administering the killing chemicals through a catheter in the groin instead of through an arm. It's a method that some critics say is too complex and contributes to higher risks of error that could lead to undue suffering."

Arizona is the only jurisdiction, other than Missouri and the federal government, where this particular practice occurs.

Arizona is citing "statutes that protect the identity of Arizona executioners" in order to avoid commenting.  A similar law was passed in Missouri after Dr. Doerhoff's identity was revealed, though the "Show-Me State" law goes even further, subjecting anyone, including journalists, who names a member of the execution team to potential legal action.

Where will Dr. Doerhoff wind up next?  Or, with secrecy increasing around executions, will we ever know?

Brian

DPAC