Opinion ID: 1091512
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: the court erred in failing to find mississippi's death penalty, as applied, unconstitutional.

Text: This same question was considered in Gray v. Lucas, 710 F.2d 1048 (5th Cir.1983), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 104 S.Ct. 211, 77 L.Ed.2d 1453 (1983). In that case extensive medical testimony was submitted along with graphic descriptions by witnesses to executions by cyanide gas. The court of appeals rejected Gray's argument and concluded: Accepting Gray's proffered facts as proven, we ultimately conclude that they do not as a matter of law establish the eighth amendment claim asserted by him and, therefore, no evidentiary hearing is required. Traditional deaths by execution, such as by hanging, have always involved the possibility of pain and terror for the convicted person. Although contemporary  notions of civilized conduct may indeed cause some reassessment of what degree or length is acceptable, we are not persuaded that under the present jurisprudential standards the showing made by Gray justifies this intermediate appellate court holding that, as a matter of law or fact, the pain and terror resulting from death by cyanide gas is so different in degree or nature from that resulting from other traditional modes of execution as to implicate the eighth amendment right. 710 F.2d 1061. There is no merit to appellant's assignment of error.