On February 14, 2018, counsel for Doyle Hamm pleaded with the Governor of Alabama, Kay Ivey, to grant mercy and a limited reprieve to allow the federal courts a little time to properly assess his medical condition. “Doyle Hamm’s case in the federal courts is moving at lightening speed,” counsel […]
On Wednesday, February 7, 2018, within 24 hours of Chief Judge Bowdre’s 25-page long memorandum opinion staying Doyle Hamm’s execution, the state of Alabama filed an emergency appeal with the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Atlanta, Georgia. The case is now out of Judge Bowdre’s jurisdiction […]
“This is not the case of a malingering respondent,” counsel for Doyle Hamm urged on the Alabama Supreme Court. “The medical evidence is clear that Mr. Hamm has been struggling against a serious lymphatic cancer, has received and continues to receive very serious medical treatment, and has very compromised veins. […]
“Based on Dr. Heath’s medical findings and conclusions, and given Mr. Hamm’s cranial and lymphatic cancer, there is a substantial likelihood that the Alabama Department of Corrections will not be able to accomplish a successful execution in compliance with the Eighth Amendment,” counsel argued to the Alabama Supreme Court. In […]
“I have not seen the exact protocol for venous access for lethal injection from the state of Alabama, but based on what I know from the David Nelson case, it is my opinion that the state is not equipped to achieve venous access in Mr. Hamm’s case,” Dr. Mark Heath […]
On September 15, 2017, Doyle Hamm again updated the Alabama Supreme Court on his worsening medical condition and the danger that a lethal injection would cause unconscionable pain. Specifically, counsel explained to the Court that there may be a serious problem of access to his veins. The medical records contain, for […]
On September 8, 2017, Doyle Hamm’s legal team filed his second status update with the Alabama Supreme Court to tell the court about his worsening medical condition. The extensive 777-pages of medical records are clear that Doyle’s cancer and medical condition has taken a turn for the worse since March 2017. […]
Doyle Hamm’s legal team filed its first status update to keep the Alabama Supreme Court abreast of Doyle’s worsening condition. Counsel had sent his law associate, third-year Columbia Law School student Nicola Cohen, CLS ‘18, to Donaldson Correctional Facility to meet with Mr. Hamm in August 2017. Ms. Cohen observed that […]
On August 15, 2017, the state of Alabama filed a reply with the Alabama Supreme Court arguing that the fact that Doyle has cranial and lymphatic cancer should have no bearing on his execution, and that the Court should not delay execution at all even to ensure that his cancer […]
“Because of Mr. Hamm’s prior medical conditions, his current lymphoma cancer, and the ongoing lymphadenopathy, it is reasonably certain that IV access for Mr. Hamm, both peripheral and central-line, may be impossible and, if achievable, will be extraordinarily difficult, challenging, arduous, painful, and bloody.” On August 8, 2017, Doyle Hamm […]