Doyle Hamm

Doyle Lee Hamm (February 14, 1957 – November 28, 2021) was an American death row inmate in Alabama, who was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1987 murder of Patrick Cunningham, whom he killed while committing a robbery. While on death row, Hamm developed lymphatic cancer, which made it difficult to impossible to achieve the venous access necessary to administer the drugs used in lethal injections. Despite months of warning by Hamm's attorney and human rights observers and a decades' long legal battle, the Alabama Department of Corrections attempted to execute Hamm on February 22, 2018. The unsuccessful execution attempt lasted nearly three hours and drew international attention. In March 2018, Hamm and the state of Alabama reached a confidential settlement, the terms of which precluded a second execution attempt, giving Hamm a de facto sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole, although his sentence was not formally commuted. Hamm remained in prison until his death from cancer-related complications in 2021.

Early life Hamm was born on February 14, 1957, and grew up in northwest Alabama, the tenth of twelve children. While he was growing up, Hamm's father and each of his six older brothers spent time in jail. In an interview, one of Hamm's sisters described their childhood home as “constant hell all the time” and recalled that her father told his children that “If you don't go out and steal, then you're not a Hamm.” Three hundred and fifty dollars were taken from the motel's cash register as well as $60 from Cunningham’s wallet . Cunningham was shot once in the temple with a .38 caliber pistol that had been stolen in a robbery committed by Hamm in Mississippi earlier the same day. On the following day, January 25, 1987 Hamm was arrested in Cullman and charged with capital murder.

Two individuals claiming to be witnesses to the crime initially identified Hamm as the gunman during the robbery, but soon recanted their testimony. Those individuals were later charged as co-defendants and took deals to testify as state witnesses. During questioning, Hamm confessed to committing the robbery.

Problems at trial and on appeal Problems at trial Hamm's 1987 trial was divided into two parts: a first stage during which a jury would determine whether Hamm was guilty and, if it found him guilty, a second phase during which the jury would determine whether life imprisonment or a death sentence was the appropriate punishment. During the second phase of the trial, defense attorneys are able to present mitigating evidence to the jury, in order to argue that the defendant should be sentenced to life imprisonment instead of death.

Hamm's defense attorney spent only 19 minutes presenting mitigation evidence. Judge Jordan added that “isn't there something fishy about such a detailed opinion being signed on a Monday after being submitted the previous Friday?”

Another problem with the 1999 hearing occurred as a result of a change in counsel. Over the objection of Hamm and Bernard Harcourt, a law professor who was then representing Hamm pro bono, the court terminated Harcourt's representation of Hamm and appointed a new attorney to represent him during the proceedings. The new counsel, who was unfamiliar with the work that Hamm's previous attorney had been doing, called only a single witness during the trial. The court-appointed attorney did not call the expert psychologist or the mitigation psychologist, both of whom were prepared to testify about Hamm's brain damage. Doctors discovered a large malignant tumor behind his left eye and determined that Hamm suffered from B-cell lymphoma. By late 2017, Hamm was suffering from inflamed lymph nodes in his neck, chest, and abdomen, symptoms which are associated with worsening lymphoma. Hamm's swollen lymph nodes were observed by multiple independent medical examiners.

Lead up to execution On December 13, 2017, the Alabama Supreme Court set Hamm’s execution date for Thursday, February 22, 2018. In an order released on February 6, Chief Judge Bowdre ordered an independent medical examination of Hamm, finding that a medical examination was necessary in order to determine whether “Alabama's lethal injection protocol "presents a risk that is sure or very likely to cause serious illness and needless suffering, and give rise to sufficiently imminent dangers. The medical examination found that Hamm’s arms and hands were unusable, but his “lower extremities” were usable.

Calls for clemency In the weeks leading up to Hamm's execution, human rights experts from the United Nations called on Alabama to halt Hamm's execution. The Special Rapporteurs expressed concern that the execution could amount to cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment, and possibly torture. The Special Rapporteurs also expressed concern that Hamm did not receive a fair trial. Prejean described Alabama's decision to execute Hamm despite his cancer as “especially inhumane.” On February 6, Hamm's attorney petitioned Governor Ivey to grant Hamm clemency. Included in Hamm's clemency petition were letters of support from family and friends, faith leaders, and community members. The Human Rights Center of the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro also wrote a letter in support of clemency.

On February 21, the day prior to Hamm's scheduled execution, a group of lawyers and former judges wrote a letter to Governor Ivey, urging her not to go ahead with Hamm's execution. The group, which included former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Ernest “Sonny” Hornsby, former Court of Criminal Appeals Judge William Bowen, and two former presidents of the Alabama State Bar, warned “the prospect of the prolonged, agonizing execution of a very sick cancer patient cannot be a desirable one for anyone in our State, even those who support retention of the death penalty in general. Almost three hours later, at approximately 8:40p.m., the Supreme Court lifted the temporary stay and denied Hamm's petition for a stay of execution.

During the course of the execution attempt, correctional officers spent two and a half hours inserting needles into Hamm's legs and ankles, trying to get venous access. The execution team turned Hamm on his stomach and slapped the back of his legs in an attempt to find a usable vein. During the execution, a large amount of blood accumulated around Hamm's groin, soaking through the pad he was lying on and requiring the execution team to replace it. The large amount of blood led to speculation that the executioner had also punctured Hamm's femoral artery. In a press conference following the execution attempt, Jeff Dunn, Commissioner of the Alabama Department of Corrections, told reporters: "I wouldn’t necessarily characterize what we had tonight as a problem." The editorial board of a local newspaper in Alabama described the attempted execution as "torture in Alabama's death chamber." In a report submitted to the federal court, the doctor who examined Hamm after the attempted execution wrote that, during the execution, Hamm wished for death "because he preferred to die rather than to continue to experience the ongoing severe pain."

Aftermath On March 5, 2018, Hamm and his attorney filed an amended civil rights lawsuit against the Alabama Department of Corrections. The lawsuit alleged that a second execution attempt would violate Hamm's Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights. Hamm also alleged that a second execution attempt would violate 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a federal law prohibiting the deprivation of civil rights. In the immediate aftermath of the execution attempt, the Alabama Attorney General's Office would not comment on whether it would seek a second execution attempt. The settlement “resolved all of the state and federal litigation” that was still pending in the case at the time and ended the efforts by Alabama to set a second execution date for Hamm, thus de facto reducing his sentence to life imprisonment without parole.

In a press conference announcing that Oklahoma would move forward with executions by inert gas inhalation, Joe Allbaugh, the Director of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, described the attempt to execute Hamm as "inhumane."

Following Hamm's attempted execution, the Associated Press and other news outlets requested the state's execution protocol and related records. The state initially denied the request, claiming that the execution protocol was secret. A district court ordered that that state could not keep its protocol secret and had to disclose the requested records. In March 2019, a three-judge panel of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the district court's ruling. The brief was filed on behalf of former federal and state judges, prosecutors, and law enforcement officials, who were urging the Supreme Court to prohibit the execution of Russell Bucklew.

Hamm died in prison of cancer-related complications on November 28, 2021, at the age of 64.