Associated Press
HELENA, Mont. - Attorneys representing the state of Montana and two death row inmates traded claims Wednesday about the speed and availability of a drug that is being proposed for use in executions.
Judge Jeffrey Sherlock will decide today whether to rule on the state's plan to use the sedative pentobarbital or send the case to trial Sept. 2. He will also consider requiring the state to disclose where it would get the drug, which is not approved by the FDA.
Attorneys for inmates Ronald Allen Smith and William Gollehon contend pentobarbital is not proven to be "ultra fast-acting," as required by Montana law.
Assistant Attorney General Pan Collins countered by pointing to a website that aggregates summaries of medical research that says the effect of the drug is almost immediate.
Pharmacologists have said in depositions and declarations that "ultra fast-acting" is not a common medical term, so they could not speculate on its application to
lethal chemicals.
Attorneys in the case agreed there is no state record explaining the phrase or whether lawmakers purposely chose it over the terminology used by many other states, "ultra short-
acting."
Pentobarbital is not available from domestic manufacturers or pharmacists, leading attorney Ronald Waterman, who represents the inmates with co-counsel, Jim Taylor, to question where Montana would obtain it.
