RICHMOND, Va. - A death row inmate set for execution next week for the rape and murder of a young mother has chosen to die in the electric chair, the Virginia Department of Corrections said Wednesday.
Barring intervention from the U.S. Supreme Court or Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, Brandon Hedrick, 27, would be the first person in the United States to die by electrocution in more than two years, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
The federal government and most states that allow capital punishment use lethal injection because it is considered more humane than electrocution or other methods.
A 2005 study raised serious questions about whether a painkiller used in the executions can wear off before the prisoner dies. The U.S. Supreme Court last month also made it easier for death row inmates to contest lethal injections by allowing them to make special federal court claims that it is cruel and unusual punishment.
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