History
All but four executions carried out before 1913 were by hanging. Four guerillas were shot on 29 July 1864.
On 25 July 1902 seven men were hanged, the most executions in one day in the state.
Almost all executions were for crimes that involved murder. A number of people were also executed for rape and there was one execution for espionage, 17 year old alleged Confederate spy David O. Dodd, hanged by Union soldiers on 8 January 1864.
In 1913 the method used was changed to the electric chair. The electric chair was constructed from the wood that had previously made up the state gallows. This electric chair would be used for all electrocutions up until 1964. Four more people were hanged in the state — one in 1913, two in 1914 and one in 1930.
The last execution in the state before Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238 (1972), was that of Charles Fields on 24 January 1964 for rape. New capital punishment laws were passed in Arkansas and came into force on 23 March 1973. The first execution would not come until 18 June 1990 when John Swindler was electrocuted. His was the first and only execution so far on the new electric chair constructed by the state in the 1970s.
According to Michael L. Radelet of the University of Colorado there have been two instances of executions that did not go to plan in Arkansas since Furman. On 24 January 1992 the execution of Ricky Ray Rector was delayed by 50 minutes after the medical staff were unable to find a suitable vein in his arm. The curtain over the witness area was not drawn, and witnesses heard Rector moan loudly eight times. State officials attributed the difficulties to his size and use of antipsychotic medication. The execution of Christina Marie Riggs faced similar delays on May 2, 2000, when staff were unable to locate a vein in her elbow. They eventually found one in her wrist.
There have been at least three death penalty volunteers in Arkansas: Ronald Gene Simmons, Christina Marie Riggs and Clay King Smith.
Read more about this topic: Capital Punishment In Arkansas
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