NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — For the first time in five years, a man is about to be executed in Tennessee. 75-year-old Oscar Franklin Smith will be given a lethal injection at 10 a.m. Thursday.
This will be the first time we see an execution in the state since February of 2020.
Governor Bill Lee, who paused an impending execution for the same man three years ago, said he will not intervene this time.
How did we get here?
In 1990, Oscar Franklin Smith was sentenced to die for killing his estranged wife and her two teenage sons in Nashville.
Since then, he's been on death row for decades. Two of his execution dates were canceled because of COVID.
Right before his third date, when he was set to receive a lethal injection in 2022, major concerns surfaced over the safety of the drug.
An independent investigation into the Tennessee Department of Corrections (TDOC) found the agency did not follow its own protocol, failing to test lethal injection chemicals for toxins that could make the chemical ineffective. Shortly after, Governor Bill Lee paused executions in the state.
In the next three years, TDOC developed a new protocol for lethal injection, introducing a drug the federal government uses called pentobarbital.
When comparing the lethal injection protocol from 2018 to the new protocol from 2025, there are some key differences.
Aside from the use of the new drug pentobarbital, the actual length of the new protocol procedures is half as long as the old one.
That's important, not only because the 2025 version lacks detail compared to 2018, but it also gives the commissioner the power to deviate from the protocol, if they deem it necessary — something that was not included in the prior version.
In the years leading up to this, there were also questions about where the TDOC would get any lethal injection drug. Most companies selling the drug said they would not sell it to be used in executions. That means we don't really know where the chemical for the upcoming executions is actually coming from.
Other differences with this execution include the time — 10 a.m. — compared to other executions historically set late at night. Smith was also isolated for two weeks leading up to lethal injection, a length of time we typically do not see.
Despite the question marks, the clock isn't stopping on executions, as Tennessee prepares to resume the practice Thursday.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at nikki.hauser@newschannel5.com.
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