Witness to an execution: The execution halted

Moonrise over the bay from the San Quentin State Prison parking lot. Photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/aepfelx/131764112/

KALW's Nancy Mullane was chosen as one of nine media witnesses for the execution of Albert Greenwood Brown that was supposed to take place on Thursday, September 30 at San Quentin Prison. Read Part I and Part II of Nancy Mullane's reflections.

I didn't expect to feel that much relief. It wasn't until I got home, opened my laptop and read that U.S. District Court Judge Jeremy Fogel had halted the execution of Albert Greenwood Brown that I realized how deeply anxious I was. Without thinking I let out a huge sigh, felt my shoulders lift and my chest open up for air. What was that?

After all, I'm a reporter by profession. My job is to report on events as they happen and not to have or even consider any personal feelings I might have about the occurrence one way or another. Just report the facts.

But, as it turns out, being an official media witness to an execution is not just another event, not just another story, and this planned execution was a story that seemed to be changing and twisting by the minute.

Unlike other stories, even those about prisons and prisoners, parole hearings and freedom granted or denied, this was an entirely different reporting experience. It seemed to follow me around, interrupting my concentration and my ability to get my work, researching and interviewing, done.

Always in the back of my mind, no matter where I turned for relief or what I tried to do to jump-start my focus, questions about what was about to happen demanded my attention. Is it really going to happen? If it is, what will it be like, watching a person get strapped down to a gurney and executed? Will I pass out? No, I'd tell myself, of course not. I will do the best job I can to report accurately the event as it unfolds. That's my role:To tell the story.

What I learned is that when there's an execution, there are roles to fill. The role of the warden and staff at San Quentin is to make sure the state-ordered execution gets carried out according to the 42 pages of new regulations. Reporters selected to be official media witnesses are to observe and report what they hear and see in the execution process. If we all do our jobs professionally and well, the people of California will know what an execution is and how they feel about what is actually done to one of their own.

The fact that it had been more than four years since the last execution meant many people filling the roles had never filled them before. It would be the first time San Quentin's new acting warden would administer an execution. It would also be the first time the new $835,000 lethal injection chamber at the prison would be used to execute one of the 708 people in the state living on death row.

But as the days and nights moved toward 12:01 am on September 29, the moment Albert Greenwood Brown was to be executed, whether or not it was going to actually happen began to get mushy. The September 29 date of execution was postponed by the Governor to give the courts time to consider all facets of the event and all appeals. So a new date of Thursday, September 30 at 9pm was set for the execution. A new press briefing was put out with new timelines.

Then, one by one, every authority in California seemed to be involved in considering whether or not the execution should take place without more review of the new lethal injection process and if so, when. A local superior court judge had to make a decision, the attorney general's office began filing appeals, the state supreme court issued a ruling, a federal court of appeals asked for a reconsideration, and a federal court judge reconsidered.

On Wednesday afternoon at 3pm, the California Supreme Court declared the execution definitely halted, and without a fresh supply of one of the three expired drugs, it can't happen until at least 2011.The state's highest court didn't even leave open to the California Attorney General the option of appealing the decision. It is over. At least for now. Not until the courts have a proper chance to examine the California Department of Correction and Rehabilitation's regulations and procedures for administering lethal drugs as a form of execution.

It's going to take a little time for it to really sink in. I'm not going to witness an execution. Not for awhile. I wonder how Albert Greenwood Brown feels right now. I wonder how the family of his victim, Susan Jordan is taking the news. It's not over, but it is for now.