NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A Tennessee death row prisoner is asking the state Supreme Court to halt his scheduled Aug. 13 execution unless prison officials replace the physician involved in May’s failed execution attempt, arguing the state is exposing him to the same unconstitutional risk of severe suffering, according to a motion filed Monday by Darrell Hines’ legal team.
The motion asks the Tennessee Supreme Court to delay Hines’ execution unless the Tennessee Department of Correction replaces Dr. Mark Fowler, the physician who allegedly failed to obtain central venous access while administering the lethal injection to Tony Carruthers, resulting in what Hines’ attorneys described as an “hour-long botched execution attempt” on May 21.
The Davidson County Chancery Court ordered the Tennessee Department of Correction on Friday to state whether it planned to use Dr. Fowler to execute Hines. Hines’ attorneys said the department has adamantly refused to say whether it will use the physician.
“We are asking the Tennessee Supreme Court to ensure Darrell Hines is not subjected to the same unconstitutional treatment as in May’s botched execution attempt,” Kit Thomas, an attorney for Hines, said.
The announcement highlighted that Dr. Fowler had previously admitted under oath that he had “not conducted a central intravenous line placement in over thirteen years and lacks privileges to do so at any hospital,” despite his role in administering lethal injections.
Hines and other plaintiffs awaiting execution filed a lawsuit last year alleging they risk “severe suffering” because of the unreliable and inconsistent nature of the Tennessee Department of Correction’s 2025 protocol for administering lethal injections, according to Hines’ legal team.
The filing contends the department cut corners by replacing the prior requirement that emergency medical technicians perform intravenous catheterization with a “vague, open-ended set of qualifications” copied “nearly verbatim” from the Arizona Department of Corrections’ now-abandoned protocol.
“These qualifications are ‘functionally meaningless,’ because they neither specify nor limit the type of ‘certification’ or ‘qualifications’ an IV Team member must possess,” the press release said, quoting the 2025 lawsuit. “TDOC’s use of Dr. Fowler reflects this lack of meaningful standards in the current protocol.”
Monday’s filing states that Dr. Fowler “appeared unaware that the protocol required him to be able to perform a central line procedure” until it was brought to his attention by the plaintiffs’ attorneys in the 2025 lawsuit, according to the statement.
“We don’t need to speculate about the risk of harm from using Dr. Fowler to execute Mr. Hines,” Thomas said. “We saw it in the last execution attempt, and there is every reason to believe that as long as TDOC uses Dr. Fowler, prisoners face prolonged, torturous, and potentially failed executions.”
The motion also emphasizes Hines’ unique risk of complications during lethal injection because of his “already impaired condition,” which it alleges the Tennessee Department of Correction’s carelessness “played a significant role in.”
The press release states that Hines suffered an ischemic stroke in December and that the department’s medical contractor allegedly turned away the ambulance called for him in favor of an “in-house CT scan.”
The scan, conducted after a three-week delay, confirmed the stroke. According to the press release, Hines did not receive aspirin for another two weeks following the scan and was denied his prescribed anticoagulant medication, leading to the further deterioration of his health.
After suffering another stroke and hitting his head in January, Hines is now partially blind and paralyzed on his left side and is experiencing severe muscle atrophy, according to the statement.
Hines’ attorneys argue that his age and medical condition make it “very likely” he will require placement of a central line, a procedure Dr. Fowler previously failed to establish during Carruthers’ execution attempt.
With that track record, the motion argues, the Tennessee Department of Correction would be subjecting Hines to an “intolerable risk of severe suffering, in violation of the Eighth Amendment” if it allows Dr. Fowler to oversee the procedure.
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