COLUMBIA, S.C. — Lawyers for a prisoner on death row in South Carolina want to stop the latest execution. They need more details about the drug used for lethal injection because the last inmate took two large doses of the painkiller 11 minutes apart before dying, according to court documents.
An anesthesiologist looked at the autopsy records of Richard Moore, who was executed on November 1. The doctor told Moore’s lawyers that the fluid in his lungs suggests he may have felt like he was drowning and couldn’t breathe during the 23 minutes it took for him to die.
Another anesthesiologist who looked at the records for the state said that it’s common to find fluid in the lungs of prisoners who are killed by lethal injection. Also, witnesses and other evidence showed that Moore was not aware of anything for more than 30 seconds after the pentobarbital was given.
Prison officials haven’t explained why Moore required a second large dose of the drug. A shield rule keeps private the supplier and manufacturer of the drug, the people who carry out the execution and the method they use.
The state says that if Marion Bowman Jr. is concerned about dying by lethal injection on January 31, he can also choose to die by electric chair or shooting squad. The state’s lawyers said in court documents that if Bowman really cared about his worries about lethal injection, he could have chosen a different way.
Bowman is set to die on January 31. He was convicted of murder in the shooting of a friend whose burned body was found in the trunk of her burned-out car in Dorchester County in 2001. Most of the proof against Bowman at his trial came from friends and family who spoke out against him in exchange for plea deals.
Bowman has maintained that he did not kill Kandee Martin, who was 21 years old. He didn’t speak at his trial, but last month he shared a message through his lawyer about what happened when Martin was killed.
Bowman’s last chance to delay his death sentence may come from a federal case about the drug used for lethal injection. His lawyers want more details than what the state has provided. They are asking for a sworn statement from the prison head saying that state agents tested the drug, confirmed it is pure and stable pentobarbital, and that the single dose given should cause death.
The court papers requesting a delay include a report of Moore’s autopsy results. Freddie Owens, another inmate from South Carolina who died in 2024, requested that an autopsy not be done because of his religious beliefs.
The state informed the doctor performing Moore’s autopsy that he received pentobarbital through an IV two times—once when the execution began and again 11 minutes later, when he died on November 1.
South Carolina does not share its procedures for lethal injection, but it has mentioned that its methods are similar to those of other states that use a single amount of pentobarbital. In Georgia and Tennessee, the execution begins with just one 5 gram dose of the drug.
Dr. David B. Waisel, an anesthesiologist who has taught at Harvard and Yale, said that this dose is strong enough to stop someone’s breathing in less than a minute, and a second dose isn’t necessary.
Fluid was also found in Moore’s lungs and mouth. Waisel wrote that Moore probably experienced feelings of drowning and smothering for a long time before he died.
Last week, the federal government said it would stop using pentobarbital for killings. This decision came after a government review found possible risks of causing “unnecessary pain and suffering.” But President Donald Trump signed an executive order shortly after taking office Monday that directs government officials to take all steps to make sure executions are carried out.
Lawyers for the governor’s office and the prison system had an anesthesiologist examine the records in their answer.
All evidence from the descriptions of Moore’s death by witnesses shows his breathing stopped in two or three minutes and he was unconscious, said Dr. Joseph F. Antognini, who taught anesthesiology at the University of California, Davis.
“Before losing consciousness, the person would not feel pain, suffocation, or a lack of air,” Antognini wrote.
After that, the heart may beat irregularly for up to 20 minutes before it stops completely. The heartbeat that the heart monitor picked up may have caused the doctors to give a second dose of pentobarbital, according to Antognini.
The state’s lawyers highlighted that Owens and Moore had lawyers present during their executions, and neither lawyer said that either man showed any signs of pain.
Bowman’s lawyers are asking for extra time to check if South Carolina’s lethal injection rules consider Bowman’s weight, which is recorded as 389 pounds (176 kilograms) in jail records. It’s challenging to place an IV in a blood vessel and figure out the right drug amount for people with obesity.
Antognini acknowledged that it can be challenging. But he wrote “thousands of obese patients have surgery every day after the successful placement of an intravenous catheter.”
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