ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, March 26, 1997 TAG: 9703260062
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: STARKE, FLA.
SOURCE: RON WORD ASSOCIATED PRESS
It was the second time an inmate's mask has burst into flame, leading the Florida governor to question the state's method of execution.
A condemned murderer's black leather face mask burst into flames as he was electrocuted Tuesday, prompting the attorney general to warn killers to stay away from Florida ``because we may have a problem with the electric chair.''
The governor said the state would consider changing its method of execution after the grisly death of Pedro Medina, a Cuban refugee who was put to death for killing a teacher who befriended him.
``We've had an occasion of smoke before,'' Gov. Lawton Chiles said. ``But the question is really, `Is this something that is torturous or painful?'''
However, Attorney General Bob Butterworth said Medina's gruesome end would be a deterrent.
``People who wish to commit murder, they better not do it in the state of Florida, because we may have a problem with our electric chair,'' Butterworth said.
Medina, one of nearly 125,000 Cubans who came to the United States during the 1980 Mariel boatlift, was executed for stabbing a woman to death in 1982.
It was the second time an inmate's mask has burst into flame during a Florida execution. The first time, in 1990, executions were suspended for three months.
While there was no visible reaction from Tuesday's 39 witnesses, some later said they were nauseated by the sight and the smell.
``It was something entirely out of the ordinary. I have witnessed 11 executions and have never seen anything like what we saw this morning,'' said a visibly shaken Gene Morris, spokesman for the Department of Corrections.
Medina, 39, had appeared calm, pursing his lips and looking up while he was strapped into the three-legged oak chair built in 1923. He never looked at the witnesses seated in front of him on the other side of a window.
``Pedro was somewhere else when he was in there,'' said the Rev. Glenn Dickson, who spent the night outside Medina's cell. ``He told me he was not afraid of dying.''
Medina's last words were: ``I am still innocent.''
Then the black leather mask was lowered over his face to conceal his expression from the witnesses, and 2,000 volts of electricity were sent through his body.
There was a small flicker on the right side of the mask, and then orange and blue flames up to a foot long erupted and burned for about 10 seconds.
When the witnesses were removed several minutes later, the room was still smoky.
Medina did not react obviously to the flames, having already lurched back and balled his hands into fists when the current hit him.
Dr. Belle Almojera, the medical examiner, said in an affidavit that he didn't see any evidence that Medina had suffered, nor did he find any burns on Medina's head.
``In my professional opinion, he died a very quick, humane death,'' Almojera said. ``I did notice smoke coming from the hood. At no time while there was smoke did I observe any pain or suffering on the part of the inmate.''
One witness disagreed.
``It was brutal, terrible. It was a burning alive, literally,'' said Michael Minerva, who heads a state agency that represents death row inmates.
Minerva said the governor should halt the executions of two inmates scheduled in April and quit signing death warrants.
Chiles said the state would consider alternatives such as lethal injection, ``as we have before.'' The Legislature would have to change state law to change the method.
Only five other states have electrocution as their only means of execution: Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Nebraska and Tennessee. However, Kentucky and Tennessee have not executed anyone since the Supreme Court allowed states to reinstate the death penalty in 1976, according to the Death Penalty Information Center in Washington.
Medina was convicted of the 1982 killing of Dorothy James, 52, a teacher who had befriended him. He was found driving her car, and a knife believed to be the murder weapon was found in the car.
James' daughter, Lindi James, opposed the execution, saying she never believed Medina killed her mother.
LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines KEYWORDS: EXECUTIONby CNB