Justice Served

Eddie Ray Routh claimed to be legally insane when he killed Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield in 2013. On Tuesday this week, a jury found him guilty of murder and he was sentenced to life in prison. Mr Routh, shot Mr Kyle and Mr Littlefield in the back, a total of 13 times, at a gun range. Mr Routh's mother had asked Mr Kyle personally to befriend her son, in an attempt to help him after he returned from Iraq. After his service in the Marines, Mr Routh received a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder and psychosis. His relatives also testified that Mr Routh had suicidal and paranoid feelings in the months before the fatal shooting.

Mr Routh used two of Mr Kyle's handguns to shoot Mr Kyle and Mr Littlefield. The police played several videotaped and recorded interviews with Mr Routh for the jurors. Mr Routh gave bizarre explanations for shooting Mr Kyle and Mr Littlefield. He spoke of fearing for his life and was under the impression that they were going to kill him at the range. He said that Mr. Littlefield was not shooting at the range and that “that’s what got me riled up.” He said he was offended that Mr. Kyle had not shaken his hand when they met, was bothered by the smell of cologne in Mr. Kyle’s truck, and was annoyed that the two men did not talk to him on the drive to the range.

“It smelled like sweet cologne,” Mr. Routh told a reporter for The New Yorker in 2013, in a phone call from jail that was recorded. “I was smelling love and hate. They were giving me some love and hate.”

Mr. Routh had made bizarre statements that he believed people around him were half-pig, half-human, and that his co-workers at a cabinet shop were cannibals who wanted to cook and eat him.

But one of the prosecution’s experts who examined Mr. Routh, Randall Price, a Dallas forensic psychologist, testified that Mr. Routh’s statements about pig people may have come not from psychosis but from TV shows, including an episode from “Seinfeld” and a reality show called “Boss Hog,” two of Mr. Routh’s favorite programs. The prosecution’s other expert, Dr. Michael Arambula, a San Antonio forensic psychiatrist who is president of the Texas Medical Board, said that the delusions of schizophrenics often had structure and details, but that Mr. Routh’s statements about cannibals lacked specifics.

“It doesn’t have content,” Dr. Arambula said.

In finding Mr. Routh guilty and not legally insane, jurors appeared to have sided with the prosecutors, who portrayed Mr. Routh not as a sympathetic, troubled veteran but as a callous killer who stopped at Taco Bell shortly after fleeing the scene and who knew his actions were wrong, a crucial part of the legal test of insanity.

Mental health experts who examined Mr. Routh told the jurors that he had not been directly involved in combat in Iraq and that he had lied about putting the bodies of babies in a mass grave in Haiti as part of an earthquake-relief deployment. Two experts who evaluated him for the prosecution testified that Mr. Routh was not insane and questioned whether he had exaggerated the trauma he experienced while in the Marines to get disability benefits and had tried to sound schizophrenic to get out of prison. 

Mr. Routh’s lawyers defended his claim of schizophrenia. They called to the stand Dr. Mitchell H. Dunn, a forensic psychiatrist who spent more than six hours with Mr. Routh last year and who testified that the defendant had been in a state of psychosis at the time of the attack and had shot the two men because he believed that they were “pig assassins” sent to kill him.

Dr. Dunn and Mr. Routh’s lawyers used Mr. Kyle’s own words to strengthen their point. As Mr. Routh sat in the back seat of Mr. Kyle’s truck on the drive to the range, Mr. Kyle sent a text message to Mr. Littlefield, who sat next to him in the passenger seat, writing, “This dude is straight-up nuts.” Mr. Littlefield responded with a text of his own, asking Mr. Kyle to “watch my six,” military parlance for “watch my back.” Dr. Dunn described the texts as “compelling evidence.”

The jury's decision comes two days after the movie "American Sniper", inspired by Mr Kyle's memoirs lost out on the Academy Award for Best Film. Mr Kyle's widow Taya Kyle attended the ceremony. The movie, starring Bradley Cooper and Sienna Miller, and trial ran alongside each other in a rare intersection between pop culture and criminal law.

Mr Kyle was a Navy SEAL Marine, a highly trained sniper who had such deadly accuracy that insurgents nicknamed him the 'Devil of Ramadi.' Clint Eastwood's adaption of his memoirs broke the box office on it's opening weekend taking in $90.2m. 

Since then, "American Sniper" went on to break Super Bowl Weekend records with $31.9m. The movie perhaps played a major part in the trial, with a movie theater showing "American Sniper" just three miles away from the courthouse. It is very possible that jurors had seen the film before being selected for trial.

“American Sniper” was widely seen in the Stephenville area and Mr. Kyle attended the local university, Tarleton State University, before he joined the Navy. Mr. Routh’s lawyers tried to postpone the trial and move it out of Erath County, but the judge turned them down.

“We’ve waited two years for God to get justice for us on behalf of our son,” Judy Littlefield, Mr. Littlefield’s mother, told reporters after the verdict. “And as always, God has proven to be faithful.”

Is Religious Affiliation linked to Terrorism?

It is not a ridiculous claim to say that the extreme concentration of terror attacks are in majority-Muslim countries. After the Charlie Hebdo attack, a Paris imam visited the scene and condemned the murders. He said; "These victims are martyrs, and I shall pray for them with all my heart." The imam, named as Hassen Chalghoumi, then went on to say that 95% of victims of terrorism are in fact Muslim.

His statement is not the first time that someone has voiced this opinion. In 2011, a report by the US government's National Counter-Terrorism Center, said; "In cases where the religious affiliation of terrorism casualties could be determined, Muslims suffered between 82 and 97% of terrorism-related fatalities over the past five years."

However, this report did not determine in what proportion of cases it had been possible to ascertain this information nor whether these cases were representative of the others. US based team, the Global Terrorism Database, compiles terrorism statistics also but does not determine religions of people killed or injured. GTD's Erin Miller said that between 2004 and 2013 about half of all the terrorist attacks, and 60% of fatalities due to terrorist attacks , took place in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan - all of which host a majority Muslim population.

95% of terrorism victims being Muslim can be doubted, however Miller says that "it's not out of the realm of possibility." 

Terrorism is not a scorecard. Most people think of terrorist attacks such as the recent incident in Paris with Charlie Hebdo, 9/11, the 7/7 London tube and bus bombs or the Madrid train bombs. The overall number of deadly terrorist attacks in France, the US, UK and Spain is incredibly low by international standards.

Between 2004-2013, the UK suffered 400 terrorist attacks, mostly in Northern Ireland and mostly non-lethal. The US came under 131 attacks, fewer than 20 of which were lethal. France suffered 47. Whilst not belittling the devastation these attacks have had on these countries, when compared to Iraq which suffered 12,000 attacks, 8,000 of which were lethal, it does seem that Chalghoumi may have a point.

Miller says; "It's tempting for many people to try and turn it into almost a scorecard, trying to figure out which religious groups are more violent than others, and boil it down to this grossly oversimplified keeping of score, like it's a football game...This is a mistake. Most terrorist attacks are rooted in geopolitics. Religion is certainly a part of them, but it is not the only part."

Where is the Line Between Fantasy and Reality?

It wasn’t until June, 2014 that Japan banned possession of real images of child sexual abuse. In 2013, Japan’s police agency reported 1,644 offences since the 1999 act that outlawed the production and distribution of images of sexual abuse of children. This shockingly came 21 years after the UK. Also in 2013, the US State Department described Japan as an “international hub for the production and trafficking of child pornography.”

However, despite these acts Japan’s high cultural industry of manga still depicts children engaged in sexually explicit acts. It’s a disturbing thought but one that is not highly condoned. It certainly would be considered controversial at best and potentially illegal in countries such as the UK, Australia or Canada but in Japan it’s no big deal.

In fact, at a recent Sunshine Creation convention there were many stands displaying comics with this kind of disturbing content in them. One of the event organisers, Hide, says;

“Everyone knows that child abuse is not a good thing. But having that kind of emotion is free, enjoying imagining some sexual situation with a child is not prohibited.”

He then introduces the word "Lolicon", short for "Lolita complex" - the name for manga featuring young girls engaged in sexually explicit scenarios. It can involve incest, rape and other taboos, though Hide's tastes lie more with high-school romance.

"I like young-girl sexual creations, Lolicon is just one hobby of my many hobbies," he says. It is not just him however. When speaking of his wife’s opinion of his ‘hobby’; "She probably thinks no problem," he replies. "Because she loves young boys sexually interacting with each other."

Although material like this is not a huge part of Japan’s manga industry, it does attract a lot of attention. At the time of the June 2014 banning of real images of children, there were calls to also outlaw ‘virtual’ sexual images. This included characters in manga, anime and games. There was much debate in the Japanese Parliament but eventually they decided against it.

Sexual material involving adolescents is not uncommon, in fact it is a fairly mainstream interest in Japan. Japan’s legislators were apparently reluctant to put large numbers of manga fans on the wrong side of the law.

Fans like Hide argue they are just enjoying harmless fantasy. No child models or actors are involved, he says, so "there is no child abuse for creating sexual topic mangas".

Tokyo’s Akihabara district is the spiritual home of manga with bookshops lining the streets selling manga on every topic. In their adult sections, it is not difficult to find titles such as ‘Junior Rape’ or ‘Japanese Pre-teen Suite.’

"People get sexually excited by something, then become used to it," says Tomo, who works behind the counter in one of the adult stores. "So they are always looking for something new, and get sexually excited by young, immature women."

What is most worrying about the lackadaisical approach to outlawing virtual child pornography is that even if nobody is harmed in the creation of sexually explicit manga then it might normalise, facilitate, or even lead to an increase in sexual abuse.

Does this make Japan a society that turns a blind eye to extreme pornography; the sexualisation of young people? 

Je Suis Charlie

On Wednesday morning, a black Citreon C3 drove up to a building in Rue Nicolas-Appert. Two gunmen, donned in all black and armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles, got out of the car and entered the building.

After bursting into No. 6 the men realised they had got the wrong target. They moved further down the street to No. 10, the Charlie Hebdo offices. The men advanced inside where upon asking maintenance staff the location of the offices, shot caretaker Frederic Boisseau.

Corinne Rey, one of the magazine’s cartoonists, was forced to enter the code for the keypad entry to the newsroom on the second floor. Here a weekly editorial meeting was taking place. After asking for the paper’s editor Stephane Charbonnier, they opened fire, killing the editor and police bodyguard Franck Brinsolaro. Seven other journalists and a guest were also shot dead.

Police arrived at the scene as the gunmen were leaving. A police car blocked the gunmen’s escape and so the gunmen opened fire. After getting past this car, the gunmen headed south before doubling back on the northern carriageway. Here they stopped the car and video footage shows the gunmen get out of the car and shoot police officer Ahmed Merabet. One of the men then walked up to Merabet and shot him dead at close range.

The gunmen abandoned their car and shortly before midday today police lost track of them. Paris has been put on maximum alert with an extra 500 police deployed on the streets of the capital.

Twelve people were killed in the attack on the Charlie Hebdo offices: eight journalists, two police officers, a caretaker and a visitor.

From left: Economist Bernard Maris, cartoonists Georges Wolinski, Jean "Cabu" Cabut, Stephane "Charb" Charbonnier, Bernard "Tignous" Verlhac and Philippe Honore and Michel Renaud.

·        

     Charlie Hebdo editor and cartoonist Stephane "Charb" Charbonnier, 47, who had been living under police protection since receiving death threats

Cartoonists Jean "Cabu" Cabut, 76, Bernard "Tignous" Verlhac, 57, Georges Wolinski, 80, and Philippe Honore, 73

·         Economist and regular magazine columnist Bernard Maris, 68, known to readers as Uncle Bernar

·         Mustapha Ourrad, proof-reader

·         Elsa Cayat, psychoanalyst and columnist, the only woman killed

·         Michel Renaud, who was visiting from the city of Clermont-Ferrand

·         Frederic Boisseau, 42, caretaker, who was in the reception area at the time of the attack

·         Police officers Franck Brinsolaro, who acted as Charb's bodyguard, and Ahmed Merabet, 42, who was shot dead while on the ground

·         BBC Special Correspondent Fergal Keane has filed a report from the banlieue, or suburb, where one of the Charlie Hebdo gunman lived.

·         He says that for many in France, the word banlieue is "often loaded with negative association".

·         "In the minds of some French, these estates can be breeding grounds for radicalism," he adds.

·         "France is outraged but not yet polarised between Muslims and the rest. That isn't to underestimate the potential for a much wider crisis.

·         "Muslim elders say the key to tackling the problem is breaking the power of radical Islam among the alienated young."

• Al-Qaeda group 'praises attack'

Al-Qaeda's branch in North Africa has praised the attack on the office of Charlie Hebdo, according to an organisation which monitors jihadi activity.

Site Intelligence Group said that al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) had also issued a reminder that Osama Bin Laden, al-Qaeda's founder, had threatened those who mocked the Prophet Muhammad

Arab ambassadors in Paris have denounced the Charlie Hebdo attack as a "barbaric terrorist act" and assured that their countries were engaged in the fight against terrorism.

In a press statement they said "the member countries of the Arab League are engaged, alongside other members of the international community in the struggle against terrorism, intolerance and extremism".

The two main suspects in the Islamist attack on Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris are said to have robbed a service station in the north of France.

They stole food and petrol, firing shots as they struck at the roadside stop near Villers-Cotterets in the Aisne region, French media report.

The gunmen have now been named as Said and Cherif Kouachi. French media say Cherif, 32, was jailed in 2008 and had long been known to police for militant Islamist activities.

Cherif, who also went by the name Abu Issen, was part of the "Buttes-Chaumont network" that helped send would-be jihadists to fight for al-Qaeda in Iraq after the US-UK invasion in 2003.

He had grown up in an orphanage in Rennes, north-west France, and had trained as a fitness coach before joining his brother in Paris, Liberation newspaper reports. In the capital he worked as a pizza delivery man.

Police detained him in 2005 just as he was about to board a plane for Syria - at the time the gateway for jihadists hoping to fight US troops in Iraq.

n 2008 he was jailed for three years, for his role in sending militants to Iraq, but 18 months of the sentence was suspended, Liberation reports.

The brothers had allegedly frequented a mosque in the Stalingrad district of Paris, where they came under the influence of a radical imam called Farid Benyettou. He reportedly encouraged them to study Islam at his home and at a Muslim centre in their neighbourhood.

A key figure in the Buttes-Chaumont network was Boubaker al-Hakim, a militant linked to al-Qaeda resistance against US forces in Iraq, a French expert on Islamists says.

Jean-Pierre Filiu, an expert at Sciences-Po University in Paris, says a French court jailed Hakim for seven years in 2008, at the same time as Cherif, along with Farid Benyettou, who got six years. That action broke up the jihadist network they had created.

In 2010 Cherif Kouachi was named in connection with a plot to spring another Islamist, Smain Ait Ali Belkacem, from jail. Belkacem used to be in the outlawed Algerian Islamic Armed Group (GIA) and was jailed for life in 2002 for a Paris metro station bombing in 1995 which injured 30 people.

At 7pm tonight, the Eiffel Tower went dark as a sign of mourning for the twelve victims.

                

Siege in Sydney

Tuesday morning marked the end of a 16-hour siege in a local cafe in Sydney, Australia. Central Sydney was in lockdown Monday morning as a gunman entered the Lindt Chocolat Cafe in Martin Place and seized 17 hostages.

Five of these hostages managed to escape later Monday afternoon. Several more escaped early on Tuesday morning.

• At 9.45 AM local time, police were called to the Lindt Chocolat Cafe in Sydney following reports of an armed robbery. Soon after, it emerges that it is a gunman holding a number of people hostage.
• Between 16.00 - 17.00, three men sprint to safety from the cafe's side door, shortly followed by two women.
• Just after 2.00 AM on Tuesday morning more hostages manage to escape. Just after this commandos storm the cafe and the remaining hostages escape.
• At 2.45 AM police officially confirm the end of the siege and later report the deaths of three people, including the gunman.

NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Catherine Burn would not say whether the gunman had shot the two hostages himself. She said that all the hostages had 'acted courageously'.

The gunman has been identified as Man Haron Monis. He is a self-styled Muslim cleric, and sought asylum in Australia in 1996. Despite having a history of religiously inspired activism, officials say there is as yet, no link to international Islamist movements.

He was convicted of sending offensive letters to families of deceased Australian soliders in 2009. IN 2013, he was charged with being an accessory to the murder of his ex-wife but was given bail. He also has faced more than 40 sexual and indecent assault charges.

His website, now closed down, had hosted a series of videos supporting terrorism and blaming rape victims for their attacks.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has questioned why Monis was not on the country's terror watch list. He has said that the government would examine why Monis was given bail.

Abbott says Monis was being monitored by domestic spy agency Asio in 2008 because of the letters but then dropped off watch lists.

"How can someone who has had such a long and chequered history not be on the appropriate watch lists, and how can someone like that be entirely at large in the community?" he asked.

An investigation has been launched into the police operation and the police are also investigating the motives of Monis.

How did an Iranian refugee who already faced multiple criminal charges manage to get a gun?

Under Australian law, pump-action or self-loading shotguns holding five or fewer rounds are strongly restricted. Only farmers, occupational shooters, collectors and some clay target shooters can own them.

Monis had claimed his siege was part of an Islamic State (IS) attack and he forced his captives to hold up what appeared to be a black Islamic banner in the café window.

But exactly what he hoped he would achieve remains unclear and experts say his profile and his actions do not fit the usual criteria applied to terrorists.

Australia's former spy chief David Irvine has raised the alarm about Muslim Australians travelling to Syria and Iraq to fight with IS.

"Lone wolf" terrorists and suicide bombers returning to Australia were a great threat to security, he said in September.

'Monis simply didn't have the standard hallmarks of a terrorist,' says James Brown, Military Fellow at the Lowy Institute for International Policy.

While not underplaying the fear Monis' captives would have experienced, Mr Brown says Monis could have made things much more terrifying.

With a terrorist attack, "you plan to kill as many people as you can to create havoc and fear and you plan for a clear outcome, and to use the hostages for leverage for what you want," he says - all of which stand in contrast to what appeared to be an unplanned and unfocussed attack by Monis.

"The reason people are reaching out to talk about it as an act of terrorism is because IS has put out a call for individuals to carry out such acts."

The final question that some people want answered is why Monis was allowed into the country.

He sought asylum from Iran, citing political persecution by the Iranian government.

It is something Mr Abbott says a joint federal and state government review will examine, along with his successful applications for permanent residency and citizenship.

Police have named the two people who died as barrister Katrina Dawson, 38, and cafe manager Tori Johnson, 34.

Katrina Dawson, 38, had been having coffee with a pregnant colleague when the gunman walked in to the Lindt Chocolat Cafe.

Ms Dawson had three young children with her husband, Paul Smith.

She worked at Eight Selbourne chambers in the Central Business District, not far from the cafe.

The Sydney Morning Herald carried a tribute from Australia's former Governor-General Quentin Bryce, who was the Women's College principal at the University of Sydney when Ms Dawson was studying there as an undergraduate.

"Brilliant mind, joie de vivre spilling over, talented sportswoman, one of those rare natural leaders. Confident, courageous, out-front, articulate, warm and funny, but thoughtful, gentle and understanding too."

Ms Bryce added: "I admired her strength of purpose and character. We knew she had a great future ahead of her, a life of achievement and contribution."

Tori Johnson had worked at the Lindt Chocolat Cafe for two years. Before that he had worked at various restaurants in Sydney and the US.

Police have not confirmed reports in local media that Mr Johnson tried to wrestle the weapon away from the gunman in order to help other hostages escape.

His parents said that their son would live forever in their memories.

"We are so proud of our beautiful boy Tori," their statement said. "The most amazing life partner, son and brother we could ever wish for."

His parents also thanked police, armed forces and emergency services for their "tireless efforts" and the public for their response to the shootings.

"We'd like to thank not only our friends and loved ones for their support, but the people of Sydney; Australia and those around the world for reaching out with their thoughts and prayers," they said.

Tributes to the victims of the siege come in the form of flowers, covering the whole of Martin Place.

Torture against Terror; What’s Worse?

The CIA are the biggest intelligence agency in the world. Recently, it has come to public attention that in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, the CIA were less than humane in their approach to catching the people responsible.

Their interrogation techniques towards members off al-Qaeda have been described as ‘brutal’ and ‘criminal.’ After going through six million pages of documents regarding the interrogations, a 500 page report has been published. The authors of this report have concluded that in none of the cases that had been examined, had the use of torture stopped a terrorist attack. Not only has this result severely damaged America’s but has also placed the country in a difficult position when it comes to criticising how other countries run their affairs. Can America now say that dictatorial regimes are unjust? Can terrorists now justify their crimes by highlighting the abuse from the Americans?

Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, introduced the report to the Senate, describing the CIA’s actions as a ‘stain on US history’. 

"The release of this 500-page summary cannot remove that stain, but it can and does say to our people and the world that America is big enough to admit when it's wrong and confident enough to learn from its mistakes," she said. "Under any common meaning of the term, CIA detainees were tortured," she added.

President Barrack Obama said; ‘These techniques did significant damage to America’s standing in the world and made it harder to pursue our interests with allies and partners.’

Senate Republican leaders insisted that these methods had helped in the capture of important suspects and eventually the killing of Osama bin Laden. Senators Mitch McConnell and Saxby Chambliss released a joint statement saying that ‘Claims included in this report that assert the contrary are simply wrong.’

British Prime Minister David Cameron stated that the issue had been ‘dealt with from a British perspective’ but that torture ultimately was wrong. ‘After 9/11 there were things that happened that were wrong – and we should be clear about the fact they were wrong.’

The main points of the report include the following;

-          None of the 20 cases of counterterrorism ‘successes’ attributed to the techniques led to unique or otherwise unavailable intelligence

-          The CIA misled politicians and public, giving inaccurate information to obtain approval for using techniques

-          The CIA claimed falsely that no senators had objected to the programme

-          At least 26 of 119 known detainees in custody during the life of the programme were wrongfully held, and many held for months longer than they should have been

-          Methods included sleep deprivation for up to 180 hours, waterboarding, beating, ‘rectal hydration’ and in some particular cases detainees were kept alive through ‘rectal feeding’ which medical experts have reported has no medical benefits

-          Waterboarding was physically harmful to prisoners, causing convulsions and vomiting

The CIA and other US Intelligence Agencies were accused of using ‘extraordinary rendition’ to send terror suspects for questioning in countries where they were under no legal protection or rights where American law was concerned. Some suspects also claimed that they had been tortured in countries such as Syria and Egypt.

 UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Counter-Terrorism Ben Emmerson said that senior officials from the administration of George W Bush who planned and sanctioned crimes must be prosecuted, as well as CIA and US government officials responsible for torture such as waterboarding.

"As a matter of international law, the US is legally obliged to bring those responsible to justice," Mr Emmerson said. “The US attorney general is under a legal duty to bring criminal charges against those responsible.”

Human Rights Watch executive director Kenneth Roth said that 

“the CIA's actions are criminal "and can never be justified".

"Unless this important truth-telling process leads to prosecution of officials, torture will remain a 'policy option' for future presidents," he said.

Mr Obama said on Tuesday that he hoped that the publication of the report would not lead to a re-fight of old arguments, but "help us leave these techniques where they belong - in the past". Republican Senator John McCain argued that torture "rarely yields credible information" and that even in the hunt for Osama Bin Laden the most important lead came from "conventional interrogation methods".

The CIA has argued that the interrogations had helped save lives.

"The intelligence gained from the programme was critical to our understanding of al-Qaeda and continues to inform our counterterrorism efforts to this day," director John Brennan said.

Poland's former president has publicly acknowledged for the first time his country hosted a secret CIA prison.

Aleksander Kwasniewski said that he put pressure on the US to end brutal interrogations at the prison in 2003.

"I told Bush that this cooperation must end and it did end," Mr Kwasniewski told local media.

Lithuanian Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevicius called on the US to say whether CIA used his country to interrogate prisoners.

A previous Lithuanian investigation found the CIA set up and ran a facility near the country's capital but could not determine if prisoners were held there.

And Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani called the report "shocking", saying the actions "violated all accepted norms of human rights in the world".

A divine intervention?

Death row inmate Peter Farmington has been released from prison following two failed executions. 

In March 2006, Farmington pled guilty to three counts of first degree murder; of his wife and two children. 

He was sentenced to death in late 2013. Tennessee has two methods of execution and allow the prisoner to choose between lethal injection and the electric chair. 

Farmington chose death by lethal injection. There are three drugs given to someone being executed. Sodium thiopental is the first of these drugs. It is designed to render the prisoner unconscious. They will then be given bromide which causes paralysis and finally potassium chloride which induces cardiac arrest. 

Astonishingly, Farmington resisted thiopental. Generally it takes about 30 seconds to take effect. They waited ten minutes before re-dosing and when nothing happened after that the execution was postponed. 

Dr Robert Liston was the medical examiner on staff; 

“I have never seen anything like it in all my years as a medical doctor.” Said Liston. “Sodium thiopental is not something someone can generally be ‘immune’ to, but Farmington’s body did not react. The drug should have hit him within 30 seconds. We waited over ten minutes, then dosed him again. Nothing.”

The second execution was scheduled for last week. Farmington opted for death by electrocution. Joseph Goldsmith, the prison warden, said; 

“Farmington chose to not go through lethal injection a second time, and opted for electrocution.” Said Goldsmith. “We hadn’t fired up ol’ sparky since 2007, but it was his choice and we honored it.”

Staff were stunned when yet again, Farmington escaped death when the electric chair failed to operate. 

“We threw those switches, and on the third flip, you’re supposed to see sparks fly, but we saw nothing.” Said Goldsmith. “We got Farmington out of the chair, hooked everything back up, fired it up, and it worked like a charm. We didn’t even try putting him back in again.”

Federal law states that any inmate who survived his execution twice is immediately granted a full pardon. 

“We wish Farmington all the best in his new life outside prison walls.” Said Governor Bill Haslam as he signed Farmington’s release forms. “This man may be a bloodthirsty, violent individual, but some higher power has given him a second chance at life. We certainly hope he uses it for something better this time around.”

Goldsmith says Farmington's survival was 'divine intervention'. “We have two methods of execution in the state of Tennessee.” said Goldsmith. “It is has always been our tradition to let the inmate choose how they want to go. Mr. Farmington is the first person to try their hand at both options. We are taking it as a sign from God that this man is just not meant to die.”