posted
Yes it's very dignified, especially if the first volley fails to kill you and they have to walk up to you and put one more bullet in your head.
Posts: 14316 | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
I have to say, though I wouldn't relish the prospect of something going wrong with a firing squad (worth mentioning that something can also go wrong with lethal injection), if I REALLY had a death sentence and had to choose between lethal injection and firing squad, I think I might go with firing squad.
I'm going to die anyway, and staring down a firing squad in my last minute just seems vastly more interesting than being injected. Though I wouldn't want any of my loved ones to see that. If they were present, or if it was being recorded or something, I'd probably go with lethal injection.
Posts: 8741 | Registered: Apr 2001
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posted
Shooting squad definitely, if they fail to kill you, you're a free man... not like I'd do something that criminal though....
Posts: 461 | Registered: Nov 2010
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quote:Yes it's very dignified, especially if the first volley fails to kill you and they have to walk up to you and put one more bullet in your head.
The way I've heard it described in the US, with 5 expert marksman aiming rifles at your heart (4 of which are firing bullets), that seems unlikely.
Posts: 5656 | Registered: Oct 1999
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posted
Whats more interesting to me is the question of what to choose as one's last words. At the moment I'm leaning toward "Blueberry pancakes and sushi, on a hot summer day."
Why die in such a pathetic fashion such as execution without leaving everyone confused as possible?
Posts: 2302 | Registered: Aug 2008
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posted
could've swore there was a documentary or something, where they ordered a firing squad on a guy, he lived through that, then they shot him in the head, and he still lived... they either let him go free or he was a vegetable or both .-.
Posts: 461 | Registered: Nov 2010
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quote:Originally posted by BlackBlade: Yes it's very dignified, especially if the first volley fails to kill you and they have to walk up to you and put one more bullet in your head.
Well, Utah (to my knowledge the only state in the US that still executes by firing squad) has a team of sharpshooters at close range aiming for the heart. That's not exactly the throw-em-up-against-a-brick-wall-and-shoot-a-lot method. The two most recent executions this way were in fact chosen by the executed men, because they shared Blayne's preference.
Posts: 3580 | Registered: Aug 2005
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posted
Firing squad is no longer available in Utah, as of 2004. The only people who can still get it are death row inmates who designated that preference before the option was eliminated.
As for it being unlikely you'd survive the first volley, well that's true, but look at 50 cent.
Posts: 14316 | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
Right, but that was sort of my point. 50 Cent was shot willy-nilly. He didn't have five trained men with rifles standing 20 ft away taking careful aim at his chest, you know?
Didn't know that about Utah, only knew that there were a couple guys executed in the last few years. I guess they'd already elected to use the firing squad before 04.
Posts: 3580 | Registered: Aug 2005
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quote: Fiddy was shot nine times willy-nilly. That's almost like giving the riflemen two shots each.
It's really not. Nine 9mm caliber pistol rounds shot haphazardly by an untrained man in a panicked situation isn't anything like four trained men shooting rifles at your heart from short range.
The odds of all 4 missing your heart is rather small. Even if by some crazy coincidence they all do, then having 4 large caliber rifle rounds in your chest is still going to kill you pretty fast.
Added: According to wikipedia, only 1 round actual hit his chest. That 1 single 9mm shot in a vital area didn't kill him is hardly surprising. The rest were superficial wounds.
Posts: 5656 | Registered: Oct 1999
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posted
Xavier: The untrained man was a bodyguard, look I'm not saying firing squads are even unsuccessful 0.5% of the time, but I've read about more than enough executions where the person is still alive after the volley. Even if they are going to bleed to death in just a few moments to a few minutes, that's appalling.
Posts: 14316 | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
According to Francis v. Resweber, attempting another execution upon survival of the first one does not invoke double jeopardy nor cruel and unusual punishment.
So, they'd probably just keep trying to execute you.
Posts: 339 | Registered: Apr 2008
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posted
That the bodyguard hit him in the hands, legs, chest, and face with his shots kind of negates any accuracy expertise you are trying to imply. This is, of course, besides your main point.
I would be interested in reading about the failed cases you've seen (not the gory details, but the circumstances at least). Were they in the US? Did they use marksmen with rifles at short range like I'm familiar with?
Edit: The two most plausible scenarios that I can come up with (besides freak chance) for failure are (1) A very large man with possibly non-standard anatomy such that the heart wasn't where they expected it to be or (2) One or more shooters intentionally missed for one reason or another.
Posts: 5656 | Registered: Oct 1999
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quote:According to Francis v. Resweber, attempting another execution upon survival of the first one does not invoke double jeopardy nor cruel and unusual punishment.
Yeah, in movies they'd always say "and hanged until dead". If the rope breaks, your sentence just hasn't been carried out yet.
(I saw parts of the Torchwood:Miracle first episode, and having the murderer go free after a failed execution broke my suspension of disbelief in a major way.)
Posts: 5656 | Registered: Oct 1999
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posted
Xavier: Well ignoring the many cases in the Civil War, most American firing squads have acted during war time. I don't have the materials, but I remember doing some research on capital punishment for a class, and found some interesting material on firing squads that I was pleasantly distracted with for about two hours, before getting back to work.
I can't remember the author's name, but I'll look for it. I doubt we are really arguing, if I was faced with five riflemen 20 ft away aiming at my chest, I'd be expecting death. Whether that death would be instantaneous is the only thing that concerns me.
Posts: 14316 | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
reading the wiki, they say they put blanks in some of the guns and only a few actual live rounds amongst all the blanks to disperse the guilt the shooters would feel for shooting the executee ...
erm "conscience round"...
with this in place it is VERY possible for someone to live Posts: 461 | Registered: Nov 2010
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posted
I'm telling you guys, a long drop hanging or a guillotine are the ways to go, either your neck breaks or the massive drop of blood pressure as your head is severed quickly and cleanly from your body means you are dead like a sneeze.
Posts: 6683 | Registered: Jun 2005
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posted
I'd choose asphyxiation by nitrogen or argon, if the choice were available. And really I have been wondering why it isn't.
As for being shot in the heart, I have a feeling that there would be significant pain, possibly for several minutes, as your brain function diminished.
Posts: 3735 | Registered: Mar 2002
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quote:reading the wiki, they say they put blanks in some of the guns and only a few actual live rounds amongst all the blanks to disperse the guilt the shooters would feel for shooting the executee ...
Where do you get the "only a few" from? I don't see anything of the sort on the page.
In the ones I read about, 5 shooters and only 1 has a blank. Thats why I refer to 4 shooters above each time.
Posts: 5656 | Registered: Oct 1999
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Blayne Bradley
unregistered
posted
The ability to troll one last time by messing with the heads of my firing squad hasn't occurred to me; that makes it definitely my preference.
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quote:Originally posted by Blayne Bradley: The ability to troll one last time by messing with the heads of my firing squad hasn't occurred to me; that makes it definitely my preference.
You couldn't troll the technicians giving you a lethal injection?
Posts: 14316 | Registered: Jul 2005
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Blayne Bradley
unregistered
posted
I imagine the likely hood of being gagged, or the glass windows being sound proof is far more likely. Also, I strongly suspect 1-way view windows.
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I'm thinking something like a morphine overdose. Wouldn't that put you out without the pain? Or maybe just send me into a coma, at which case I don't much care how you kill me.
The fail rate, and apparently suffering involved with lethal injections make it an unattractive option. Same thing with hanging.
Firing squad would probably be my choice if it were available.
I also wonder what it would be like to jump from a plane without a parachute. You'd think death would be instantaneous upon impact. Plus, you know, the fall would be somewhat euphoric.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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posted
I'd go with hanging or guillotine, they would leave the most organs available for transplants.
Edit: if the firing squad offered a "shot in the head" option to save the heart for transplant, i'd go with that. All the five star executions have options
Posts: 2332 | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
If we have freedom of choice, I'd actually probably go with Lyrhawn's last suggestion. Jump out of a plane without a parachute. Except I'd first want to be loaded up with drugs. Strong hallucinogenic ones. And maybe some others to ensure death if somehow the impact alone doesn't take care of me.
That seems to me like an awesomely wild ride.
Posts: 8741 | Registered: Apr 2001
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quote:Originally posted by Marek: I'd go with hanging or guillotine, they would leave the most organs available for transplants.
Edit: if the firing squad offered a "shot in the head" option to save the heart for transplant, i'd go with that. All the five star executions have options
I'd prefer to be shot in the heart with the option of a brain transplant.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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posted
Ever since I saw the cinematic opening for WarCraft III, I've always figured the best way to die was to be near the crash landing of an infernal demon.
Posts: 4136 | Registered: Aug 2008
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posted
of course there is always being thrown down an elevator shaft by a guy whose mask has constantly changing shapes.
Posts: 2332 | Registered: Jul 2003
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(I saw parts of the Torchwood:Miracle first episode, and having the murderer go free after a failed execution broke my suspension of disbelief in a major way.)
Seriously? In a show like Torchwood that's the one thing you couldn't accept? Aliens and time travel and immortality are fine, but making up legal loophole for plot purposes is too much?
Besides, it was an unprecedented case because it's not like continued attempts could be successful.
Posts: 1569 | Registered: Dec 2004
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quote:Aliens and time travel and immortality are fine, but making up legal loophole for plot purposes is too much?
Yes. Aliens and time travel and immortality don't run directly opposed to my understanding of human nature. Letting go a child murderer because he survived the execution attempt is ludicrous in a way that the other things you mentioned aren't. If continued execution attempts would fail, you settle for life in prison. Not release. When you sit down to watch a sci-fi show, you are expected to suspend your disbelief in wacky science. You don't turn it off completely (or at least I don't).
Edit: Oh and there are still some sure-fire ways to execute someone, even in a world where the person's brain isn't shutting off when their body dies. A couple of obvious choices: here or here.
Posts: 5656 | Registered: Oct 1999
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posted
I don't know... If people like O.J. can get off because of lawyers who know how to manipulate the system it doesn't shatter my suspension of disbelief to imagine this particular happenstance. There's no precedent for a life sentence when lifespans are eternal, and I'm pretty sure that they can't just make up new (inhumane) forms of execution on the fly. So I can actually see a legal team making a fair case that neither further imprisonment or subjection to a wood chipper are legal. And technically, his execution was carried out successfully unlike the examples of failed executions mentioned above.
Besides, to reference one of my favourite quotes; "Life is full of infinite absurdities, which, strangely enough, do not even need to appear plausible, since they are true." In other words, totally unrealistic things even happen in reality, so I tend to give television a break. Posts: 1569 | Registered: Dec 2004
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Blayne Bradley
unregistered
posted
They addressed all of those concerns later in the shows run. "Category 0" and hey look. Ovens.
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