Paul Augustus Howell, Appellant v. State of Florida, Appellee

Summary

The court affirmed the denial of Howell’s amended third successive motion for post-conviction relief challenging Florida’s lethal-injection protocol. It held that Howell bore the heavy burden of showing a substantial and objectively intolerable risk of serious harm, and that he failed to prove that midazolam would leave him conscious or able to feel pain, that vecuronium bromide was unlawfully administered, or that the protocol, discovery rulings, and evidentiary rulings violated his rights. The court also declined to apply the involuntary-medication standard governing competency-for-trial cases to lethal injection.