From The Associated Press As Ohio sought to justify its reasoning for shielding the names of people or companies providing lethal drugs to the prison system, it paid a security consultant who determined that identifying the suppliers would put them at risk of “harm, violence or unlawful acts of intimidation,” according to newly released documents.
But a pair of attorneys representing a condemned killer says the consultant simply repackaged a similar threat assessment he did for Texas. The security consultant, Lawrence Cunningham, said he couldn’t immediately identify specific threats against anyone in Ohio. But he said threats in other states have come from inmates and their families.
Anti-death penalty advocates have accused Texas and other states of hyping threats to avoid disclosing pharmacies providing lethal drugs.
Ohio has repeatedly delayed executions because it can’t obtain lethal objection drugs. Twenty-five inmates are scheduled to die beginning early next year, but the prison system still doesn’t have the necessary drugs.