On December 20, 2004, and inmate at the California State Prison at San Quentin filed a lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. Section 1983 against the California Department of Corrections in the U.S. District Court for the District of California. The plaintiff, who was scheduled to be executed by lethal ...
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On December 20, 2004, and inmate at the California State Prison at San Quentin filed a lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. Section 1983 against the California Department of Corrections in the U.S. District Court for the District of California. The plaintiff, who was scheduled to be executed by lethal injection, asked the court to enjoin the defendants from carrying out the execution, arguing that the lethal injection procedure inflicts unnecessary pain and torture in violation of his Eighth Amendment right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment.
On January 7, 2005, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (Judge Jeremy Fogel) denied the plaintiff the requested relief, holding that he brought the lawsuit in order to unnecessarily delay the execution. Beardslee v. Woodford, No. 04-5381, 2005 WL 40073. The plaintiff appealed. On January 14, 2005, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's decision and denied the plaintiff's request for a stay of execution, finding that the inmate had failed to establish a likelihood that he would be conscious during administration of the lethal drugs. Beardslee v. Woodford, 395 F.3d 1064 (9th Cir. 2005). The plaintiff appealed. On January 18, 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court declined the petition for certiorari. Beardslee v. Woodford, 543 U.S. 1096 (2005).
Donald J. Beardslee was executed on January 19, 2005 by lethal injection.
Kristen Sagar - 08/27/2007
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