The south-eastern state of Georgia executed
William Earl Lynd late Tuesday, the first use of the death penalty in the
United States in more than seven months, dpa
reported.
The execution came after the US Supreme Court last month upheld the right of
states to use lethal injection, which opponents argued was unconstitutional and
amounted to "cruel and unusual punishment."
A last-minute clemency request for the 53-year-old Lynd, convicted of killing
his girlfriend and another woman in 1988, was denied Monday by Georgia's Board of Pardons and Paroles.
Lynd was declared dead at 7:51 pm (2351 GMT) Tuesday, 21 minutes after the
lethal injection process began, the Atlanta Journal- Constitution reported on
its website.
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