Nebraska prison officials are exploring whether they can recoup funds for lethal injection drugs they never received from a foreign broker, although a written sales agreement says nothing about a possible refund.
Gov. Pete Ricketts said last week that his administration will halt efforts to obtain lethal substances until after next year’s referendum vote on the fate of the death penalty. The announcement prompted the question about whether state can recover the $54,400 paid to Chris Harris, a broker in India who had sold and delivered drugs to Nebraska in the past.
This time, however, Harris has not made good on his pledge to ship the drugs within 60 days of cashing two checks the state sent him. The Governor’s Office has directed the Corrections Department to review the purchase agreement, said Taylor Gage, the governor’s spokesman.
“It is unclear what recourse the state has, if any, to recover the funds at this time,” Gage said this week.
In response to previous public records requests, state officials had released an “offer to sell agreement” for 1,000 vials of sodium thiopental drafted by Harris and signed April 14 by Corrections Director Scott Frakes. The director signed a similar agreement for a second lethal drug, pancuronium bromide, on May 12.
The agreements list six terms and conditions, including the price of the drugs, the advance payment requirement and Harris’ pledge to deliver within 60 days. The agreements do not address the possibility of returning the funds in the event Harris is unable to supply the drugs.
On Thursday, Corrections spokeswoman Dawn-Renee Smith said the department is still reviewing the purchase agreement and “relevant supporting documentation” as requested by the governor.
State Treasurer Don Stenberg said the state should make an effort to recoup public funds when goods and services are not received, said Jana Langemach, the treasurer’s spokeswoman. That responsibility falls to the agency that makes the lost expenditure, Stenberg added.
It appears that state officials did not anticipate running into difficulties with importing the drugs, which it bought to replace two lethal substances that had expired. Within weeks of the purchase, however, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it would not allow importation of sodium thiopental, an anesthetic no longer manufactured or approved for general use in this country.
Late last week, Nebraska’s U.S. Attorney Deborah Gilg also said it would be illegal for the state to import sodium thiopental, the first of three drugs prison officials would administer in an execution.
Hours after Gilg’s statement, the governor announced that the state would stop attempts to obtain the drugs until after the November 2016 referendum vote. The announcement effectively put a one-year moratorium on executions in Nebraska, where 10 men wait on death row.
Ricketts also said that for the past several weeks, his administration has been reviewing the procedures used by other states that have lethal injection. Work on possible changes to Nebraska’s lethal injection protocol will continue, the governor indicated.
The governor’s announcement represented a shift in his efforts to restore the state’s ability to carry out an execution. Nebraska last used the death penalty in 1997, when the method was the electric chair.
Since May, Ricketts had been steadfast in saying state officials were trying to work with federal officials to get the drugs imported.
On May 14, Ricketts announced that the Department of Correctional Services had purchased the two death penalty drugs from Harris.
Then on May 27, the Legislature voted to abolish capital punishment over the governor’s veto, making Nebraska the first politically conservative state to do so in more than four decades. Doubts about the state’s ability to obtain lethal injection drugs factored prominently into the vote.
But death penalty supporters easily put the repeal on hold by gathering nearly 143,500 verified signatures so voters could decide the issue next year.
Harris has twice sold sodium thiopental to Nebraska in the past.
Federal authorities destroyed the first batch delivered by Harris in 2010 after learning that the Corrections Department lacked the proper importer’s license. The second supply expired after legal challenges emerged in response to claims by the drug’s Swiss manufacturer, which said Harris obtained the drug under false pretenses.
The manufacturer, which opposed executions, said Harris told them he was trying to develop a market for the anesthetic in Africa.
Harris did not respond to emails seeking comment for this story.
http://www.omaha.com/news/nebraska/...cle_619e349c-457e-5a50-8044-235145f130e5.html
Gov. Pete Ricketts said last week that his administration will halt efforts to obtain lethal substances until after next year’s referendum vote on the fate of the death penalty. The announcement prompted the question about whether state can recover the $54,400 paid to Chris Harris, a broker in India who had sold and delivered drugs to Nebraska in the past.
This time, however, Harris has not made good on his pledge to ship the drugs within 60 days of cashing two checks the state sent him. The Governor’s Office has directed the Corrections Department to review the purchase agreement, said Taylor Gage, the governor’s spokesman.
“It is unclear what recourse the state has, if any, to recover the funds at this time,” Gage said this week.
In response to previous public records requests, state officials had released an “offer to sell agreement” for 1,000 vials of sodium thiopental drafted by Harris and signed April 14 by Corrections Director Scott Frakes. The director signed a similar agreement for a second lethal drug, pancuronium bromide, on May 12.
The agreements list six terms and conditions, including the price of the drugs, the advance payment requirement and Harris’ pledge to deliver within 60 days. The agreements do not address the possibility of returning the funds in the event Harris is unable to supply the drugs.
On Thursday, Corrections spokeswoman Dawn-Renee Smith said the department is still reviewing the purchase agreement and “relevant supporting documentation” as requested by the governor.
State Treasurer Don Stenberg said the state should make an effort to recoup public funds when goods and services are not received, said Jana Langemach, the treasurer’s spokeswoman. That responsibility falls to the agency that makes the lost expenditure, Stenberg added.
It appears that state officials did not anticipate running into difficulties with importing the drugs, which it bought to replace two lethal substances that had expired. Within weeks of the purchase, however, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it would not allow importation of sodium thiopental, an anesthetic no longer manufactured or approved for general use in this country.
Late last week, Nebraska’s U.S. Attorney Deborah Gilg also said it would be illegal for the state to import sodium thiopental, the first of three drugs prison officials would administer in an execution.
Hours after Gilg’s statement, the governor announced that the state would stop attempts to obtain the drugs until after the November 2016 referendum vote. The announcement effectively put a one-year moratorium on executions in Nebraska, where 10 men wait on death row.
Ricketts also said that for the past several weeks, his administration has been reviewing the procedures used by other states that have lethal injection. Work on possible changes to Nebraska’s lethal injection protocol will continue, the governor indicated.
The governor’s announcement represented a shift in his efforts to restore the state’s ability to carry out an execution. Nebraska last used the death penalty in 1997, when the method was the electric chair.
Since May, Ricketts had been steadfast in saying state officials were trying to work with federal officials to get the drugs imported.
On May 14, Ricketts announced that the Department of Correctional Services had purchased the two death penalty drugs from Harris.
Then on May 27, the Legislature voted to abolish capital punishment over the governor’s veto, making Nebraska the first politically conservative state to do so in more than four decades. Doubts about the state’s ability to obtain lethal injection drugs factored prominently into the vote.
But death penalty supporters easily put the repeal on hold by gathering nearly 143,500 verified signatures so voters could decide the issue next year.
Harris has twice sold sodium thiopental to Nebraska in the past.
Federal authorities destroyed the first batch delivered by Harris in 2010 after learning that the Corrections Department lacked the proper importer’s license. The second supply expired after legal challenges emerged in response to claims by the drug’s Swiss manufacturer, which said Harris obtained the drug under false pretenses.
The manufacturer, which opposed executions, said Harris told them he was trying to develop a market for the anesthetic in Africa.
Harris did not respond to emails seeking comment for this story.
http://www.omaha.com/news/nebraska/...cle_619e349c-457e-5a50-8044-235145f130e5.html
