Alabama has executed James Barber. Barber gave a brief final statement, offering an apology to the family of Dorothy Epps, whom he was convicted of beating to death in 2001 in her home in Harvest near Huntsville. Barber died at 1:56 a.m.
James Barber is set to be executed for the 2001 beating death of Dorothy Epps. Alabama has executed James Barber for the 2001 beating death of a 75-year-old Madison County woman.
Barber also told his family that he loved them. His brother Glen Barber was among the execution witnesses, according to the Alabama Department of Corrections. Barber closed his statement calling Gov. Kay Ivey by name and addressing the prison officials and execution team, saying, “In the words of my Lord and savior Jesus Christ, I forgive you for what you are about to do.”
Barber had argued that his Eighth Amendment rights would be violated if put to death by lethal injection. Barber’s lawyers stated their client could be subject to multiple punctures in an effort to establish IV lines to deliver the deadly combination of drugs. Those multiple punctures, growing more painful with each stick of the needle, constituted “cruel and unusual punishment,” his lawyers maintained.John Q.
Barber was convicted by a Madison County jury in 2003 for the brutal murder of Epps in her Harvest home near Huntsville. Epps was beaten to death with Barber’s fists and a claw hammer in her Harvest home, according to court records. She suffered multiple skull fractures, head lacerations, brain bleeding, and rib fractures.
Barbert sought protection under the Eighth Amendment that prohibits “cruel and unusual punishment,” citing recent problems the state of Alabama has encountered in its most recent execution attempts. The state’s last two execution attempts were aborted when an IV line to deliver the deadly combination of drugs could not be established. Prior to that, the most recent execution required multiple punctures in the body of Joe James to find an adequate connection.
The state pointed to changes in its execution protocol that received the endorsement of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, which on Wednesday rejected Barber’s plea to stop his execution based on the problems of Alabama’s failed two most recent execution attempts. “ core claim is that Alabama has botched three consecutive executions and, after undertaking a review, has admitted it made no material change,” the filing said.
A federal court ruling Thursday prohibited an attorney for James Barber from bringing a plain wristwatch into the witness room. Attorney Mara Klebaner said in a filing Wednesday that prison officials told her she could not bring a click-top pen, notepad and plain wristwatch into the witness room. U.S. District Judge Emily Marks ruled that Klebaner could bring a notepad and a click-top pen but did not permit a wristwatch. The state of Alabama had opposed Klebaner’s request.
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