Executions within San Quentin State Prison
Execution Chamber. Photo courtesy of Marin Independent Journal, 2011.
Currently, most executions within San Quentin use the method
of lethal injection. Please watch the video below for more information on the
process of lethal injection. While most executions now occur by lethal
injection, at one point in time, prisoners were executed in gas chambers. According
to "Inside Death Row / At San Quentin, 647 condemned killers wait to die
in the most populous execution antechamber in the United States" by Peter
Fimrite, a journalist for the San Francisco Chronicle, the gas chamber was
built in 1937. Following the completion of the gas chamber, San Quentin State
Prison was deemed the only place that executions could take place within the
state of California. In the next 60 years, 196 inmates were executed by means
of gassing. Ironically, one of the inmates that helped weld the gas chamber
together was executed within the very same room after he was convicted of a
murder. After 1995, the gas chamber executions were deemed as cruel, so this
began the use of lethal injection. While the method of execution may have
changed, the same execution chamber is used (4). According to "Witness to the
Execution: A Macabre, Surreal Event" written by Dan Morain, a staff writer
for the Los Angeles Times, writes that during gas chamber executions witnesses,
including family and friends of the inmate being executed, and journalists and
reporters, are required to prove that the execution occurred. The inmate being
executed is strapped to a chair by guards to prevent movement during the
execution process. After the guards leave the chamber, the door is shut and
sealed. Sulfuric acid is pumped into the chamber then cyanide pellets are
dropped into the room. When mixed, these two chemicals are toxic to humans and
lead to death (1-2). Following, is a quote that describes what an execution
looks like. Executed on April 21, 1992, Robert Harris was a convicted murderer
of two teenage boys. According to "Witness to the Execution: A Macabre,
Surreal Event" by Morain:
At 6:07 by the warden's watch, the pellets dropped and the colorless gas began to invade Robert Harris. He just sat there, looking forward, hangdog. The first sign of death's beginning was a twitch of his hands, as if the rising gas had stung his skin. He inhaled and exhaled, four or five times. His head snapped back. His eyes rolled into his head. After 30 seconds, his head dropped, but he strained against the straps. Then his head rose as if by convulsion, then fell forward, slowly. After a minute, his hands appeared relaxed. A vein that runs the length of his forehead bulged, then looked as if it would burst. His mouth was wide open; his face flushed, then turned almost purple. He seemed oblivious at this point, perhaps two minutes into the execution. But then, as his body seemed to have relaxed, his head rose slowly and eerily... At 6:11, there was a cough, a convulsion, a line of drool. His balding pate was visible, as was his tightly banded and short ponytail... By 6:14 a.m., the body no longer moved. (Morain 3-4)
To the right, there is a video explanation of how most lethal injections work. Please click the play button to watch the video. (Video found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zK0KR5T7XNI)
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