An inmate put to death last month in South Carolina’s second firing squad execution was conscious and likely in extreme pain for up to a minute after the bullets missed their target, attorneys allege.
Dr. Jonathan Arden, a forensic pathologist hired by Mikal Mahdi’s attorneys, alleged that the execution on April 11 was a “massive botch” after he completed an analysis of the autopsy findings, according to the pathologist’s report, which was filed Thursday with a letter to the state Supreme Court.
The lawsuit challenges the legal precedent set in Owens v. Stirling—that firing squads are humane if properly carried out—by alleging that Mahdi’s execution amounted to “cruel and unusual punishment” in violation of the Eighth Amendment.
Mahdi, 42, was convicted in the 2004 killings of an off-duty police officer in Calhoun County, South Carolina, and a convenience store clerk in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He was sentenced to death for the murder of the officer and life in prison for the clerk’s murder.
MIKAL MAHDI, SOUTH CAROLINA INMATE CONVICTED IN TWO SEPERATE 2004 MURDERS, EXECUTED BY FIRING SQUAD
Arden’s analysis alleged that only two bullets struck Mahdi, both low in the torso and well below the heart, contradicting protocol which requires three shots to the heart for rapid death.
“The shooters missed the intended target area and the evidence indicates that he was struck by only two bullets, not the prescribed three. Consequently, the nature of the internal injuries from the gunshot wounds resulted in a more prolonged death process,” Arden said.
The partial damage to Mahdi’s heart allowed continued circulation, leading Arden to determine that Mahdi likely remained conscious for up to 60 seconds after being shot.
Witnesses to the execution, according to The AP, heard Mahdi cry out as the shots were fired, groan again some 45 seconds later and let out one last low moan just before he appeared to draw his final breath at 75 seconds.
Arden also criticized the autopsy for lacking essential documentation, such as x-rays, clothing examination and adequate photographs.
He said that Mahdi’s execution failed to meet medical and constitutional standards for a humane death.
In contrast, the autopsy on Brad Sigmon, the first man killed by firing squad in the Palmetto State, showed three distinct bullet wounds and his heart was obliterated, Arden said. He added that the autopsy report in that case included X-rays, adequate photos and a cursory examination of his clothes.
Prison officials have given no indication that there were problems with Mahdi’s execution. A shield law keeps many details private, including the training and methods used by the firing squad.
In the official autopsy report, pathologist Dr. Bradley Marcus wrote that the reason there were only two wounds is that one could have been caused by two bullets entering the body at the same spot. Marcus said he spoke to an unnamed prison official who reported that when the three volunteer firing squad members practice, sometimes their targets end up with just one or two holes from three live rounds.
SECOND SOUTH CAROLINA INMATE CHOOSES EXECUTION BY FIRING SQUAD
Arden called that virtually unheard of in his 40 years of examining bodies and said Marcus told him in a conversation that the possibility was remote.
The autopsy found damage in only one of the four chambers of Mahdi’s heart — the right ventricle. There was extensive damage to his liver and pancreas as the bullets continued down.
“The entrance wounds were at the lowest area of the chest, just above the border with the abdomen, which is an area not largely overlying the heart,” Arden wrote.
Mahdi was sentenced to death in 2006 after he admitted to killing off-duty Orangeburg Department of Public Safety Capt. James Myers, 56, on his property on July 18, 2004.
Myers had been shot at least eight times and his body was burned when his wife found him in their shed, which was near a gas station where Mahdi attempted to purchase gas with a stolen credit card. He left a vehicle he had carjacked in Columbia at the gas station and was later arrested in Florida while driving Myers’ unmarked police truck.
Mahdi also admitted to murdering convenience clerk Christopher Boggs three days before he killed Myers. Boggs was shot in the head twice while checking Mahdi’s ID, according to The AP.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
