Death Penalty: When Execution Goes Wrong

58 countries around the world have the death penalty for crimes such as murder, rape, corruption and drug trafficking - even homosexuality is punished in this way. The methods are varied and range from stoning under Islamic law to the use of electric chair and lethal injection in the United States.

However, besides being an extremely controversial subject, some cases make the punishment win a new chapter in the debate: the failures at the time of execution.

As health professionals refuse to participate in the actions, it is the prison officials themselves who are responsible for executing the penalty, which can lead to errors. Know some cases:

1. 18 Attempts to Apply Lethal Injection

After 25 years serving time for rape and murder, Romell Broom received the news that his leniency request had been denied by the Ohio state governor.

In the first attempt, the officials could not find a vein and the prisoner himself tried to help. After a few applications, Broom began to sweat cold and asked for water. The officials discussed whether it was better to inject the legs, and after 18 perforations, the governor decided to postpone the execution.

2. Survived Electric Chair

In recent US history, Romell Broom was the second prisoner to resist the death penalty. The first case came in 1946, when a 17-year-old survived a 2, 500-volt shock in the electric chair.

3. Bloody Witnesses

In 1988, witnesses to the execution were struck with blood when the syringe flew from the convict's arm.

4. Vein burst and heart attack

Another prisoner had problems receiving the lethal injection. Clayton Lockett, 38, suffered a heart attack 40 minutes after a new combination of drugs did not have the expected effect on his body. The prisoner had convulsions until he was pronounced dead. The spokesman for the prison department responsible for the case alleged that a Lockett vein had burst, not allowing the drug to be absorbed properly.

5. Hood caught fire

During the 1990s, two executions in Florida went wrong because officials used the wrong sponges to prepare the electric chair. The sack on the prisoners' heads caught fire.

6. Choking Death in Electric Chair

In the same period, the execution of Allen Davis became news worldwide. While using the electric chair, Davis suffered a nosebleed and several burns to the head, leg and groin. After the incident, the expert concluded that Davis was still partially choked by a strap that attached him to the chair. The Florida Supreme Court has released images of the unconscious convict.

7. Counter flow

Applying the lethal injection went wrong in Illinois when the drugs ended up targeted at the convict's hand instead of the heart, causing immense pain.