The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from a condemned Ohio killer who says the state should not get a second chance to put him to death after he survived a botched execution in 2009.
The justices on Monday let stand an Ohio Supreme Court ruling against inmate Romell Broom. Justices Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan would have heard Broom's appeal.
The state stopped Broom's execution after two hours in September 2009 when executioners failed to find a usable vein following 18 attempts to insert needles.
Broom argued that the first failed attempt was cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Constitution. He said a second try also would be unconstitutional.
The 60-year-old Broom is only the second inmate in U.S. history to survive an attempted execution.
