AP’s Indianapolis The state’s first death row inmate in 15 years, who was found guilty 25 years ago of the murders of his brother and three other men, is set to be put to death by Indiana officials.
Since 1999, 49-year-old Joseph Corcoran has been a resident of Indiana’s execution row. It will be the state’s first execution since 2009 if he is executed on Wednesday as planned. Thirteen executions were carried out in Indiana during that period, although those were planned and carried out at a federal prison by federal officials in 2020 and 2021.
Before dawn on Wednesday, Corcoran will be put to death in the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City, which is roughly 45 miles (72 kilometers) east of Chicago.
The return of executions in Indiana is drawing attention back to Corcoran’s case and raising concerns about the state’s ability to procure a medication for lethal injections.
For what offense was Corcoran found guilty?
On July 26, 1997, at the age of 22, Corcoran shot and killed his brother, James Corcoran, 30, along with three other men: Douglas A. Stillwell, 30, Timothy G. Bricker, 30, and Robert Scott Turner, 32.
Court documents indicate that Joseph Corcoran was under stress since he would have to leave the house he shared with his brother and sister in Fort Wayne, Indiana, due to his sister’s impending marriage to Turner.
According to the documents, he loaded his weapon, shot all four men, and woke up to the sound of his brother and others below discussing him.
Corcoran allegedly boasted of shooting his parents in 1992 in Steuben County, northern Indiana, while he was incarcerated. He was acquitted despite being charged with their murders.
The sister of Corcoran is against execution.
In the 1997 shootings, Corcoran’s sister, Kelly Ernst, who lost a brother and her fiancé, refused to say if she thinks her younger brother killed their parents.
However, Ernst, a resident of northeastern Indiana, stated that she thinks the death penalty ought to be abolished and that her brother’s execution won’t resolve or alter anything. She has no intention of going to his execution.
Ernst claimed that until lately, she had not spoken to her brother for ten years. She thinks it’s pretty clear that he suffers from a severe mental disorder.
I simply have the impression that there is no such thing as closure. Friday, Ernst, 56, said. I simply cannot think of anything more to say. It’s been weeks since I last slept.
For what reason did Indiana halt executions?
Matthew Wrinkles was last executed in Indiana in 2009 after he killed his wife, her brother, and sister-in-law in 1994.
Because a mix of chemicals used in lethal injections was no longer available, state officials claimed they could not carry out any more executions. Pharmaceutical companies, especially in Europe, where resistance to the death penalty is strongest, have refused to sell their medications for that purpose, resulting in a nationwide shortage that has lasted for years.
States are now using compounding pharmacies, which make medications especially for a customer, as a result of this. The sedatives pentobarbital and midazolam, which critics claim can inflict terrible agony, are among the more easily accessible medications that some states have shifted to.
Following suit, Indiana intends to execute Corcoran by pentobarbital.
The 13 federal executions that took place in the last six months of then-President Donald Trump’s first term also used the use of pentobarbital.
The drug’s hidden source
Indiana is among the many states that won’t reveal where they obtain the medications. The Indiana Department of Correction referred The Associated Press to a state statute that designates the source of lethal injection medicines as confidential when asked how the state acquired the pentobarbital it intends to use in Corcoran’s execution.
Governor Eric Holcomb declared in June that the state had obtained pentobarbital and requested that the Indiana Supreme Court schedule Corcoran’s execution. The supreme court scheduled his execution for September 18th.
The execution plan of the state
The precise time and procedure are outlined in state law. Additionally, it restricts who can participate in an execution, protects their identities, and identifies who is permitted to observe executions in Indiana State Prison.
Only the prison warden, those chosen to assist in the execution, the prison physician, one additional physician, the condemned person’s spiritual advisor, and the prison chaplain are permitted to be present during an execution, according to the Indiana Code.
Up to eight family members of the crime victims and up to five friends or family members of the person being executed are permitted to see the procedure.
Multiple questions from the AP regarding whether any of the staff members who will assist in carrying out Corcoran’s execution have participated in a state execution before were not answered by the Indiana Department of Correction.
Executions in Indiana cannot be seen by the media.
According to a recent report by the Death Penalty Information Center, Indiana is one of just two states—along with Wyoming—that forbid press media from covering state executions.
According to that assessment, unrestricted media access to executions is crucial since the media can see things that the general public cannot. The media becomes the public’s watchdog, providing crucial information on how the government is abiding by the law and spending tax payer cash because states often discourage citizens from attending executions.
Does there exist a struggle to halt the execution?
In 2016, Corcoran had used up all of his federal appeals.
However, because Corcoran suffers from a severe mental disorder, his lawyers petitioned the U.S. District Court of Northern Indiana on Wednesday to halt his execution and hold a hearing to determine if it would be unlawful.
They contend that he suffers from severe and chronic paranoid schizophrenia, which shows up as delusions and auditory hallucinations that he is being tortured by jail officers using an ultrasound machine.
According to the filing, he has in fact offered to be put to death and is looking forward to it because he feels that it will relieve the suffering that his hallucinations and delusions are causing him.
On December 5, Corcoran’s lawyers requested that the Indiana Supreme Court halt his execution, but their request was turned down. His attorneys’ pleas to contest his competency to be executed were likewise turned down by the upper court.
Corcoran informed the justices in a handwritten affidavit that he was no longer interested in pursuing his cause through litigation.
He wrote, “I accept the findings of all the appellate courts and I am guilty of the crime for which I was convicted.”
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