Grayson v. Dunn

218 F. Supp. 3d 1321, 2016 WL 6440133, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 150286
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Alabama
DecidedOctober 31, 2016
DocketCASE NOS. 2:12-CV-0316-WKW, 2:13-CV-0781-WKW, 2:14-CV-1028-WKW, 2:14-CV-1029-WKW, 2:14-CV-1030-WKW, 2:16-CV-0267-WKW, 2:16-CV-0268-WKW, 2:16-CV-0269-WKW, 2:16-CV-0270-WKW, 2:16-CV-0284-WKW
StatusPublished

This text of 218 F. Supp. 3d 1321 (Grayson v. Dunn) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Grayson v. Dunn, 218 F. Supp. 3d 1321, 2016 WL 6440133, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 150286 (M.D. Ala. 2016).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

W. Keith Watkins, CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE •

I. BACKGROUND

Plaintiffs Carey Dale Grayson, Demetrius Frazier, David Lee Roberts, Robin Dion Myers, and Gregory Hunt are Alabama death-row inmates who have been committed to the custody of the Alabama Department of Corrections (“ADOC”) awaiting their presently unscheduled executions., They each filed separate actions under- 42 U.S.C. § 1983 challenging the constitutionality of Alabama’s method-of-execution under the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Because these actions involve common questions of fact and law, on September 5, 2015, the court consolidated these five cases for discovery and trial in order to promote judicial economy, eliminate duplication of discovery, and avoid unnecessary costs. (See Doc. #59.)

This matter is before the court on Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment on Plaintiffs’ Eighth Amendment claims. (Doc. # 127.) The motion has been fully briefed and is ripe for review. Defendants’ motion is due to be granted.

A. Plaintiffs’ Capital Litigation History

Plaintiffs Grayson, Frazier, Roberts, Myers, and Hunt all have been convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. Grayson was convicted of capital murder for the February 1994 death of Vickie [1324]*1324Deblieux committed during a kidnapping in the first degree. Grayson v. State, 824 So.2d 804 (Ala. Crim. App. 1999). In October 1996, Frazier was convicted of capital murder of Pauline Brown. Frazier v. State, 758 So.2d 577 (Ala. Crim. App. 1999); Ex parte Frazier, 758 So.2d 611 (Ala. 1999). In December 1992, Roberts was convicted on two counts of capital murder for the death of Annetra Jones, for murder committed during the commission of a robbery and arson. Roberts v. State, 735 So.2d 1244, 1269 (Ala. Crim. App. 1997). In January 1994, Myers was convicted on two counts of capital murder for the death of Ludie Mae Tucker because the murder occurred during the commission of a robbery and burglary. Myers v. State, 699 So.2d 1281 (Ala. Crim. App. 1996). In June 1990, Hunt was convicted on a three-count indictment for the capital murder of Karen Lane, committed during sexual abuse in the first degree and burglary in the first degree. Hunt v. State, 659 So.2d 933 (Ala. Crim. App. 1994); Ex Parte Hunt, 659 So.2d 960 (Ala. 1995).

Plaintiffs’ direct appeals concluded many years ago,1 and their state post-conviction and federal habeas proceedings have also been concluded for at least three years.2

B. Formation and Chronology of the Midazolam Litigation

From 2002 until 2011, sodium thiopental was the first drug used in the ADOC’s three-drug, lethal injection protocol. In 2011, the ADOC amended its protocol by substituting pentobarbital for sodium thio-pental as the first drug. At that time, the ADOC made no amendment to the other two drugs administered, pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride.

In April 2012, Grayson filed a § 1983 complaint challenging the ADOC’s substitution of pentobarbital for sodium thio-pental, alleging an Eighth Amendment violation. In October 2013, Frazier filed a similar § 1983 complaint challenging the ADOC’s substitution of pentobarbital for sodium thiopental, also alleging an Eighth Amendment violation.

On September 10, 2014, the ADOC amended its execution protocol again, this time by substituting midazolam for pento-barbital as the first drug used in its three-drug, lethal-injection sequence, and by substituting rocuronium bromide for pan-curonium bromide as the second drug. On September 11, 2014, the State disclosed the ADOC’s amended protocol in motions the State filed in the Alabama Supreme Court to set execution dates for several death-row inmates. (Doc. # 160-1, ¶¶ 24-28.)

In October 2014, Plaintiffs Roberts, Myers, and Hunt filed separate § 1983 lawsuits challenging the ADOC’s amended lethal-injection protocol employing midazo-lam instead of pentobarbital, alleging an Eighth Amendment violation.3 Subsequent[1325]*1325ly, in January 2015, Frazier amended his complaint to challenge the ADOC’s substitution of midazolam for pentobarbital, and in March 2015, Grayson followed suit, amending his eomplaint to challenge the ADOC’s substitution of midazolam for pen-tobarbital.

In June 2015, the Supreme Court rendered its decision in Glossip v. Gross, — U.S.-, 135 S.Ct. 2726, 192 L.Ed.2d 761 (2015), and applied the Court’s decision in Baze v. Rees, 553 U.S. 35, 128 S.Ct. 1520, 170 L.Ed.2d 420 (2008), to Oklahoma’s lethal-injection protocol (which is virtually identical to Aabama’s protocol) and held that the plaintiffs failed to establish a likelihood of success on the merits of their claim that the use of midazolam violated the Eighth Amendment. Post-Glossip, the lawsuits filed by Roberts, Myers, and Hunt were consolidated with the pending lawsuits of Grayson and Frazier to form what the court has termed the “Midazolam Litigation,” with the Grayson ease (12-cv-316), the first-filed of these five cases, designated as the lead case. (Doc. #59.) Following the close of discovery in the consolidated case, in compliance with the dispositive motions deadline established in the scheduling order (Doc. #67), Defendants moved for summary judgment on Plaintiffs’ Eighth Amendment claims. (Doc. # 127.)

C. Plaintiffs’ Claims

Plaintiffs’ amended complaints all assert identical Eighth Amendment claims challenging the ADOC’s current execution protocol, alleging that the ADOC’s use of mi-dazolam, the first drug to be administered, is unconstitutional.4 Specifically, Plaintiffs assert that midazolam will not properly anesthetize them so as to prevent them from feeling an unconstitutional level of pain associated with the injection of potassium chloride, the third drug. On this premise, Plaintiffs claim that Defendants’ current execution protocol creates a “substantial risk of serious harm,” Baze v. Rees, 553 U.S. 35, 50, 128 S.Ct. 1520, 170 L.Ed.2d 420 (2008) (plurality opinion), and violates their right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Instead of the use of midazolam in a three-drug lethal injection protocol, Plaintiffs propose three alternative methods of execution, using either pentobarbital, sodium thiopental, or a 500-milligram dose of midazolam in a one-drug lethal injection protocol.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment on Plaintiffs’ Eighth Amendment Claims

Defendants contend they are entitled to summary judgment on Plaintiffs’ Eighth Amendment claims because Plaintiffs cannot establish the second prong of Baze v. Rees, 553 U.S. 35, 128 S.Ct. 1520, 170 L.Ed.2d 420 (2008), viz.,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
218 F. Supp. 3d 1321, 2016 WL 6440133, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 150286, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/grayson-v-dunn-almd-2016.