Mississippi death row inmate Eddie Loden asks federal judge to pause his execution date
Nov. 28—JACKSON — A man sitting on death row asked a federal judge on Monday to prevent his execution until a pending civil lawsuit involving Mississippi's method of execution is resolved.
Jim Craig, an attorney for the MacArthur Center for Justice, asked U.S. District Judge Henry T. Wingate to temporarily stop the Mississippi Department of Corrections from putting Thomas Edwin "Eddie" Loden to death on Dec. 14 because plaintiffs argue the state's current execution process is inhumane.
"This action is not about whether plaintiffs may be executed, but rather how they can be executed," Craig said.
Several inmates on Mississippi's death row filed suit in 2015 arguing the state's method of execution, lethal injection, violates the U.S. Constitution's 8th Amendment protection from cruel and unusual punishment. Loden joined that lawsuit in 2018.
At issue is the state's three-drug cocktail used for lethal injection.
Wingate initially granted an injunction to prevent the state from using certain drugs, but the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that ruling. The case is back at the district court and is unresolved.
The first drug the state injects is a sedative that should render the inmate unconscious. The second drug paralyzes the condemned, and the third drug triggers cardiac arrest, killing the person.
Among the states which regularly carry out executions, only four of them — Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee and Oklahoma — use a three-drug cocktail, according to Craig. The remaining states use a single drug to put someone to death.
The reason, according to Craig, is states are beginning to wonder if the first drug in the three-drug concoction is actually effective at rendering someone unconscious and preventing them from feeling pain.
The pending civil suit has been ongoing for seven years, but the case has taken on new urgency since the Mississippi Supreme Court earlier this month set a December date to execute Loden.
Wingate questioned why the state officials suddenly attempted to put Loden to death, given that the federal judiciary has gone to extraordinary lengths to allow both parties to gather evidence for an eventual final ruling.
Out of fear that companies would stop providing the lethal drugs to the state if they were publicly identified, Wingate allowed witnesses to testify before attorneys anonymously and instructed court officials to disguise their voices using voice alteration technology.
The Mississippi Legislature passed a law in 2016 that blocks the public from obtaining documents that would reveal where state officials use taxpayer dollars to purchase lethal injection drugs.
Gerald Kucia, an attorney with the Mississippi Attorney General's Office, argued that the state was prohibited from executing Loden until now because of a number of factors, including the COVID-19 pandemic, a struggle to procure the drugs and the inmate's appeals.
But the state is now ready to proceed with executions and has the necessary drugs ready to put someone to death.
Mississippi's most recent execution, involving David Cox of Pontotoc, was in November 2021. It was the state's first in nine years.
"The state moved forward with Cox," Kucia said. "Now, it's Loden's turn."
Kucia argued that no matter the specifics of how Mississippi puts inmates to death, current case law provides that a three-drug cocktail is a constitutional method that does not violate the 8th Amendment.
"The U.S. Supreme Court has never stricken a state's method of execution," Kucia said.
Loden, 58, has been on death row since 2001, after he pleaded guilty to capital murder, rape and four counts of sexual battery.
According to court documents, Loden kidnapped Leesa Gray, who was stranded on the side of the road in Itawamba County on June 22, 2000. The documents said Loden spent four hours raping and sexually battering Gray before suffocating and strangling her to death.
Loden filed several appeals of his conviction, all of which were denied.
Gray's mother, Wanda Farris, traveled from Itawamba County to attend Monday's hearing. She told reporters that she finds it difficult to understand why attorneys are arguing over pain caused by lethal injection drugs, which doesn't compare to the pain of of losing a daughter.
"I forgave Eddie Loden a long time ago, though," Farris said. "I just want justice to be served."
Judge Wingate at the end of the hearing asked attorneys for the state to provide him with additional information, which they agreed to submit by Wednesday. The federal judge said after he's reviewed the material, he will issue a ruling "as soon as possible."
