By Vanguard Staff
Key points:
- Attorneys for Byron Black seek stay of August 5 execution.
- Execution could trigger Black’s implanted defibrillator, causing prolonged death.
- Tennessee’s aging death row population may face similar medically complicated executions.
NASHVILLE, TN — Attorneys for Byron Black, a 66-year-old man on Tennessee’s death row, filed a motion Thursday seeking to stay his scheduled August 5 execution, warning that the lethal injection could trigger his implanted defibrillator and cause him to suffer a prolonged and gruesome death. The request to the Tennessee Supreme Court follows the court’s earlier decision the same day to vacate a lower court’s order requiring the state to deactivate Black’s defibrillator ahead of the execution.
The motion for stay, filed by the Federal Public Defender’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee, describes the request as “a modest, targeted stay” aimed at preventing a potentially unconstitutional and cruel execution resulting from the state’s refusal to address Black’s medical condition. The attorneys argue that the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) has “consistently” obstructed efforts to deactivate Black’s implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD), which is designed to automatically shock his heart if it stops—an outcome that is virtually guaranteed during a lethal injection.
“TDOC has flagrantly violated court procedures and misrepresented the facts in its dogged refusal to prevent Byron Black from suffering a prolonged and torturous execution,” said Kelley Henry, Chief of the Capital Habeas Unit and lead counsel for Black. “We are now asking the Tennessee Supreme Court, which has seen this misconduct first-hand, to enter a stay to prevent a readily preventable constitutional violation and the human suffering it will inflict.”
The legal filings emphasize that Black is not contesting his conviction or challenging the execution itself but is instead seeking limited relief to ensure the ICD is deactivated to avoid unnecessary pain. According to the motion, “Over two days of live evidence, Byron Black established that he was entitled to have his ICD deactivated prior to his execution, lest he be subject to the severe pain and suffering of having his heart repeatedly shocked back into rhythm during his execution.”
Earlier on July 31, the Tennessee Supreme Court vacated a preliminary injunction issued by the Davidson County Chancery Court that had directed TDOC to deactivate the ICD on the morning of the execution. The high court ruled that trial courts do not have the authority to interfere with the logistics of an execution once it has been ordered by the state’s highest court.
However, the Supreme Court did not address the substance of Black’s claims. It explicitly noted that “nothing in our decision today prevents the parties from reaching an agreement regarding deactivation of Mr. Black’s ICD, should it become feasible for the procedure to be performed at an appropriate time.”
Black’s attorneys argue that such an agreement is unlikely without a stay in place. “Based on the history of this case, however, Mr. Black believes that any such agreement is almost certainly impossible in the absence of a stay,” the motion reads. It goes on to accuse TDOC of “foot-dragging and obfuscation” in dealing with the issue, citing a pattern of delay and non-cooperation throughout the litigation.
They also warn of broader implications, noting that Tennessee’s aging death row population will likely lead to similar medically complicated executions. “This will not be the last time that an execution in this State raises questions other than when it will be performed or what the method of execution will be,” the motion states. It urges the Tennessee Supreme Court to use this opportunity to develop a structure for addressing such secondary concerns in future cases.
Kelley Henry also appealed to Tennessee Governor Bill Lee to intervene, calling for clemency or a temporary reprieve. “We also call on Governor Lee to grant clemency or a reprieve to ensure that Tennessee does not move forward with this gruesome spectacle, which would also unconstitutionally execute a person with intellectual disability,” she said.
The state has previously acknowledged that Black is a person with intellectual disability. He also suffers from advanced dementia, end-stage kidney disease, congestive heart failure, brain damage, and a broken hip. Despite his medical conditions, the Tennessee Supreme Court has ordered that the execution proceed on August 5 unless a stay is granted by either the state or a federal court.
Black’s attorneys emphasize that their client has acted diligently throughout the legal process, filing motions and responding to court deadlines on an expedited basis. The motion underscores that this is the first time Black has asked for a stay related to the defibrillator issue. “If no such stay is granted,” the motion warns, “the result will be that Mr. Black was denied his day in court on this issue—after enforceable injunctive relief had been awarded—based solely on a newly announced, retroactively applied procedural rule.”
Separately, Black has also filed a reply in the United States Supreme Court in support of his pending petition for writ of certiorari. That petition argues that the state courts have denied him a meaningful opportunity to litigate his claim that his execution is barred by his intellectual disability—an issue that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled constitutionally prohibits capital punishment.
Unless a stay is granted, Byron Black is set to be executed by lethal injection at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville on Tuesday, August 5.
