At age 40, Mikal Mahdi was housed at the Broad River correctional institution in Columbia, South Carolina. Last month, South Carolina’s execution attempt on Mahdi was marred by errors as the firing squad missed the intended target area on his heart, resulting in a prolonged and painful death, as per autopsy records and statements from his legal team.
Mahdi, who was 42 years old at the time, became the victim of the state’s second firing squad execution of the year, part of a resurgence in capital punishment efforts over the past several months in South Carolina. The controversial method involving firearms, rarely used in modern death penalty practices, was reinstated.
Evidence from the autopsy, along with a verified photograph and an analysis obtained by Mahdi’s lawyers, indicates that the execution did not adhere to the established protocol. Mahdi is believed to have experienced extended suffering beyond the typically swift loss of consciousness expected during such procedures.
Mahdi’s legal representatives submitted these findings to the South Carolina supreme court for review on Thursday, while attempts were made to reach out to the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC) and the state’s attorney general for their responses.
In 2006, Mahdi had been sentenced to death, and on April 11, the execution was carried out. During the fatal process, Mahdi was brought into the state’s execution chamber, securely fastened to a chair with a red bullseye target positioned over his heart. Witnesses were shielded by bulletproof glass as three prison personnel from the firing squad stood around 15 feet away.
As per accounts from an Associated Press reporter present at the scene, moments before the shots rang out, Mahdi vocalized distress, his arms tensed, and he emitted groans post the firing. His breathing persisted for about 80 seconds before a doctor assessed him. Ultimately, he was pronounced dead approximately four minutes after the shots were fired.
Contrary to regulations that dictate bullets must hit the heart directly to ensure immediate stoppage, the SCDC’s autopsy revealed only two gunshot wounds on Mahdi’s body, missing the intended target area. Dr. Jonathan Arden, a forensic pathologist working on behalf of Mahdi’s legal team, highlighted these discrepancies and raised concerns regarding the findings.
The investigation into the events surrounding Mahdi’s execution continues, shedding light on potential discrepancies and oversights during the process.
Arden noted that Marcus also anticipated the entrance wounds to be higher and did not foresee such extensive damage to the liver during their conversation. Arden emphasized the importance of disrupting the heart during the procedure to immediately stop circulation. However, due to the shooters missing the intended target area, the individual continued to have circulation, allowing them to remain conscious for up to a minute. This resulted in a more prolonged and painful death process than expected, causing excruciating suffering for about 30 to 60 seconds.
Questions arose regarding whether one member of the execution team missed the individual entirely, if they did not fire at all, or how the two shooters missed the heart. Mahdi’s attorneys raised concerns about inadequate training or misplaced targeting on Mahdi’s chest. The autopsy did not include X-rays or an examination of Mahdi’s clothing to determine the target’s placement.
The state supreme court approved firing squads based on the assessment of potential cruelty and the risk of unnecessary pain. Despite Arden’s testimony, the court concluded that the method was not cruel unless there was a significant error in execution resulting in prolonged suffering.
Mahdi’s lawyers argued that a major mistake occurred, contradicting the court’s confidence in the execution process. They expressed concern over the botched execution and its impact on future cases, advocating against setting further execution dates. South Carolina had recently resumed executions after a 13-year hiatus, offering death row inmates the choice between firing squad, electric chair, or lethal injection.
David Weiss, one of Madhi’s lawyers, witnessed the execution and voiced his distress over the pain and suffering he observed. He highlighted the flaws in lethal injections, leading to the resurgence of firing squads as a supposedly less cruel method. Weiss, a federal public defender, emphasized the need to reevaluate execution methods to prevent further instances of prolonged suffering and ensure a more humane process.
The firing squad was meant to simplify the execution process, ensuring a quicker and error-free procedure. However, as a human rights report highlighted, there have been 73 failed lethal injection executions over the past 50 years, disproportionately affecting Black individuals on death row. Alabama recently introduced a nitrogen gas method as a supposedly more humane alternative, but its first use resulted in a disturbing incident where the condemned individual’s body shook violently and it took approximately 22 minutes to complete the execution. Despite only three firing squad executions in the past 50 years, Idaho has recently passed legislation making it the primary method of execution.
