Case: Code v. Cain

In this case, the Louisiana courts rejected a challenge by the defendant, under sentence of death, to the state's lethal injection protocols. The U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari in 2011.

On July 10, 1995, a death-sentenced prisoner of the State of Louisiana filed an application for post-conviction relief under Louisiana state law against the Louisiana Department of Corrections in the First Judicial District Court for Caddo Parish, Louisiana. On September 3, 1999, the Louisiana Supreme Court ordered evidence to be taken on five of the plaintiff's seventeen claims and remanded the case to the District Court. State ex rel. Code v. Cain, 747 So.2d 527 (La. 1999).

After evidentiary hearings and depositions, the plaintiff's post-hearing memorandum distilled the remaining complaints into three general areas: ineffective assistance of counsel, the claim that execution by lethal injection was cruel and unusual punishment, and the claim that the State failed to reveal Brady material. With respect to the ineffective assistance of counsel claim, the plaintiff argued that his counsel had failed to properly use psychological evidence in his defense. With respect to the lethal injection claim, the plaintiff detailed complaints regarding alleged flaws in the creation of the protocol, in the equipment and apparatus used in the executions, in the pharmacology and pharmacokinetics of the drugs involved, in the administration of the drugs, and in the monitoring of executions - specifically the lack of any execution logs and other pertinent records concerning every execution in the state since lethal injection was adopted as the State's preferred means of execution in 1990. With respect to the third claim, the plaintiff argued that in his trial, the prosecution failed to reveal to the defense evidence which would tend to exculpate him or reduce his penalty. Specifically, he raised this claim in relation to alleged unidentified hairs that were found at the scenes of the crime, as well as the testimony of an FBI special agent regarding duct tape found at the scenes and at the plaintiff's home.

On October 8, 2010, the Louisiana Supreme Court upheld the lower court's denial of petitioner's application for supervisory and/or remedial writ, Code v. Cain, 46 So. 3d 1258 (La. 2010) and on March 7, 2011, the United States Supreme Court review on certiorari. Code v. Cain, 131 S.Ct. 1611 (2011.)