Hi there,

From our first broadcast nearly 30 years ago, Democracy Now! has always been fiercely independent. Over these last 3 decades, our daily global news hour has been a source of truth in a media landscape all too often bought by commercial interests. Can you start a monthly donation? Monthly donations are the lifeblood of Democracy Now!.Thanks to a group of generous donors, all monthly donations started today will be DOUBLED, which means your $15 gift is worth $30. If you believe that freedom of speech and freedom of the press are essential to the functioning of a democratic society, please donate today. Every dollar makes a difference. Thank you so much.

Democracy Now!
Amy Goodman

Non-commercial news needs your support.

We rely on contributions from you, our viewers and listeners to do our work. If you visit us daily or weekly or even just once a month, now is a great time to make your monthly contribution.

Please do your part today.

Donate

Democracy Now! Broadcasts for the First Time a Complete Recording of a Botched Execution;and, the Final Statements of Three Condemned Men

Listen
Media Options
Listen

In this recording, DN broadcasts for the first time, a botched execution, that is, an execution that had to be”re-initiated,” in which the condemned man is still alive after being electrocuted for two minutes, requiring that hebe electrocuted again.

Tape:

  • Botched execution of Alpha Otis O’Daniel Stephens on December 12, 1984 in Jackson, Georgia

Guest:

  • Michael Mears, director of the Multi-county Public Defenders Office for the state of Georgia and thelawyer who discovered the execution tapes.

Before a prisoner is executed, he can speak for as long as he wants in a holding cell, and then he has two minutes tomake a final statement in the electric chair. The following are excerpts recorded immediately before their execution.

Tape:

  • Final statements of Jerome Bowden, Van Roosevelt Solomon, and Richard Tucker recorded from the death cell and theelectric chair

Related Story

StorySep 11, 2025“Moment of Great Peril”: Jeff Sharlet on Killing of Charlie Kirk & Rising Political Violence in U.S.
The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

Non-commercial news needs your support

We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work.
Please do your part today.
Make a donation
Top