Toledo Attorney Angry Over Botched Executions - Toledo News Now, Breaking News, Weather, Sports, Toledo

Toledo Attorney Angry Over Botched Executions

TOLEDO -- Toledo attorney Alan Konop says Thursday's execution of Christopher Newton is an unfortunate repeat of what happened this time last year to his client, Joe Clark.

Konop wants Governor Strickland to halt all executions until the Bureau of Prisons figures out how to stop this from happening again. (See attached story about Newton's execution.)

Toledo native Joe Clark was convicted of the 1984 murder of David Manning at a gas station on Airport Highway. Last May, he was executed. But it took almost 90 minutes, because they couldn't find the right veins in his arms. "He actually got up and said, 'Stop it, you're not doing it right,' " Konop said.

Family members told Konop what Clark went through on the gurney.

But should anyone, especially the victim's family, be expected to feel sympathy for this convicted killer? A man who was also sentenced to life in prison for killing another clerk the night before?

"I don't think there's any civilized society that feels that a person who's been sentenced to death should be tortured to death," Konop argues.

The brother of murder victim David Manning told News 11 he firmly believes in the death penalty, but actually agrees with Konop. Mike Manning said: "I believe in the constitutionality of the death penalty. In other words, you should not have to suffer because of the state."

Next month, Konop says he will file a civil lawsuit against the State of Ohio for "cruel and unusual punishment" in how Clark was put to death.

"We hope that if the state sees that they can be liable for damages, that they will take a new and fresh look at how they carry out executions," Konop said.

Posted by KO