Ohio Supreme Court To Hear Appeal From Botched Execution Survivor

The Ohio Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments from a condemned killer who survived a botched execution almost five years ago that a second attempt to put him to death amounts to cruel and unusual punishment. The court last week also agreed to hear arguments by death row inmate Romell Broom that allowing Ohio to try again amounts to double jeopardy. The state stopped Broom's 2009 execution after two hours when executioners failed to find a usable vein following 18 attempts to insert needles. The 57-year-old Broom is only the second inmate to survive an execution in U.S. history and the only via lethal injection. The state opposed Broom's arguments, saying lower courts properly determined that any mistakes by the state happened during execution preparations, not the actual procedure.