Manuel Valle was executed by the State of Florida for the murder of a police officer
According to court documents Manuel Valle was pulled over while driving a stolen vehicle. Valle would fatally shoot Officer Louis Pena and shoot and injure his partner
Manuel Valle would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
After spending 33 years on death row Manuel Valle was executed by lethal injection on September 28 2011
Manuel Valle Photos
Manuel Valle FAQ
When Was Manuel Valle Executed
Manuel Valle was executed on September 28 2011
Manuel Valle Case
A Cuban man who spent 33 years on death row has been executed in Florida in a case that campaigners say highlights the cruelty of America’s system of capital punishment.
Manuel Valle, 61, was killed with three drugs including an anaesthetic that has not been tested for executions and that medical experts have said could cause extreme suffering. The manufacturer of pentobarbital, the Danish firm Lundbeck, has written to the governor of Florida, Rick Scott, to protest about the misuse of its product.
Valle was pronounced dead at 7.14pm local time after scenes of chaos and confusion at the Florida state prison that houses death row. Earlier in the evening the Miami Herald had prematurely reported his death. The US supreme court ordered a delay while it considered an appeal and Valle lived an extra three hours
Valle was put on death row in 1978 for the murder of police officer Louis Pena. Though severe doubts did not surround his guilt, as they did for Troy Davis who was executed by the state of Georgia last week, there were deep apprehensions around his treatment.
Campaigners have condemned his three decades in solitary confinement on death row as a form of torture, and criticised the bureaucratic slip-ups that deprived him of a final plea for clemency.
Florida is unusual in that the governor has almost total discretion over deciding who is executed and when, unlike other states where the courts play a much greater role.
It was the use of pentobarbital, or Nembutal as it is brand-named, that caused most controversy. In an execution in June, Roy Blankenship was administered the drug as the first of the three injections used to kill him, was reported to have lurched, grimaced and kept his eyes open even into death.
The same drug was used to kill Troy Davis in a case that has generated more debate in the US about the humanity and fairness of the death penalty than any other in recent years.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/sep/29/manuel-valle-execution-carried-out
