The Justice Department has killed Daniel Lee, 47, marking the first federal execution since 2003, after a chaotic overnight series of divided court rulings that cleared the way for federal executions to resume for the first time in 17 years (article available here). Lee was scheduled to be executed Monday at 4 p.m. EDT. The time of death was 8:07 a.m. EDT.
Lee, strapped to a gurney and connected to an IV in his left arm, said: "I didn't do it. I've made a lot of mistakes in my life but I'm not a murderer." Lee's last words were, "You're killing an innocent man."
Mr. Lee's lawyer criticized what she called the "shameful" process that led up to Lee's death. He was taken to the death chamber in the dark of night and kept in place even as the final legal obstacles were resolved, she said.
"Over the four hours it took for this reckless and relentless government to pursue these ends, Daniel Lewis Lee remained strapped to a gurney," she said in a statement. "A mere 31 minutes after a court of appeals lifted the last impediment to his execution at the federal government's urging, while multiple motions remained pending, and without notice to counsel, he was executed."