The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area–Background Paper 2018 27 July 2017 TaiChin Preyor Texas 46 Black 24 Aug. 2017 Mark Asay Florida 53 White 13 Sept. 2017 Gary Otte Ohio 45 White 5 Oct. 2017 Michael Lambrix Florida 57 White 12 Oct. 2017 Robert Pruett Texas 38 White 19 Oct. 2017 Torrey McNabb Alabama 40 Black 8 Nov. 2017 Patrick Hannon Florida 53 White 8 Nov. 2017 Ruben Cardenas Texas 47 Latino 18 Jan. 2018 Anthony Shore Texas 55 White 30 Jan. 2018 William Rayford Texas 64 Black 1 Feb. 2018 John Battaglia Texas 62 White 22 Feb. 2018 Eric Branch Florida 47 White 15 March 2018 Michael Eggers Alabama 50 White 15 March 2018 Carlton Gary Georgia 67 Black 27 March 2018 Rosendo Rodriguez Texas 38 Latino Recent developments concerning lethal injections as a method of execution: Seven states carried out executions during the reporting period. Although this represents a small fraction of the total number of 50 states, numerous others have attempted to obtain lethal injection drugs and may resume executions in the near future. Some developed new lethal injection drug combinations. For instance, officials in Nebraska, who had struggled to find lethal injection drugs, announced a never-before-used four-drug combination. The concoction includes the sedative diazepam (a benzodiazepine, better known as Valium), cisatracurium (a muscle relaxant that causes paralysis and can stop the heart), potassium chloride and fentanyl (an opioid).49 The drug mixture is controversial, because if the substances do not work as planned, the convict could suffer extreme pain.50 The state’s first death by lethal injection was scheduled for 14 August 2018. In Nevada, officials also struggled to obtain lethal injection drugs, but in August 2017 they announced plans to also use a combination of fentanyl, diazepam and cisatracurium.51 The first use of this combination in Nevada was planned for July 2018 but postponed due to the 49  Fentanyl is an opioid painkiller that is 30 times more potent than heroin and at least 80 times stronger than morphine, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Nearly 30,000 overdose deaths were linked to fentanyl in 2017, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data cited by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. 50  “Carey Dean Moore says ‘I love you’ before dying in Nebraska’s first execution by lethal injection using fentanyl”, USA Today, 14 August 2018, <https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/08/14/nebraska-execute-carey-moore-using-opioid-fentanyl/984608002/>. 51  “The history of the death penalty in Nevada”, the Marshall Project, <https://www.themarshallproject.org/nextto-die/nv>. 16