Florida Halts Executions

MiamiHerald.com | 12/16/2006 | Gov. Bush orders hold on executions

TALLAHASSEE - Gov. Jeb Bush halted all Florida executions and ordered a special commission to review lethal-injection policies after a medical examiner Friday suggested Miami killer Angel Nieves Diaz's execution was botched.

The order, asking the commission to report its results by March 1, came the same day a federal judge imposed an execution moratorium in California, finding that lethal injection is painful and unconstitutionally cruel.
A violent career criminal, Diaz was executed Wednesday for the 1979 killing of a Miami topless-bar manager. It took 34 minutes for him to die -- more than double the average time -- as he grimaced, flexed his jaw and opened his mouth.

Diaz was the 21st person executed under Bush, a record high for Florida governors.