Execution Report: Willie Trottie

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A jury found Trottie guilty of capital murder in May 1993 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence in September 1995. All of his subsequent appeals in state and federal court were denied.

In an interview with the Associated Press a few days before his execution, Trottie admitted killing Barbara and Titus Canada, but disputed his culpability as a murderer.

"There's no doubt I committed this crime," Trottie said. "The dispute is the sequence of how it happened." Trottie said that he shot Titus only after Titus shot at him first, and that his gun "went off" during a struggle with Barbara.

"I shot my brother-in-law in self-defense and I shot my wife by accident," Trottie said.

As Trottie's execution date drew near, appeals filed on his behalf argued that the Texas Department of Criminal Justice planned to execute him with expired chemicals, introducing a risk of "torturous" pain in violation of the Eighth Amendment. TDCJ spokesman Jason Clark stated that the pentobarbital expected to be used on Trottie had a "use by" date of 30 September and that it had been tested for potency and defects. Attorneys for the state argued that Trottie's appeal was merely the latest of several ploys by death penalty opponents to attempt to force the state into disclosing the identities of the pharmacies and labs it contracts with to prepare and test its execution chemicals. The courts have repeatedly denied such disclosure requests in the past.

Numerous medical web sites minimize the importance of drug expiration dates, explaining they reflect the date of the manufacturer's guarantee, not the date the drug is expected to go bad. "[T]he expiration date doesn't really indicate a point at which the medication is no longer effective or has become unsafe to use," Harvard Medical School's site reads. "Medical authorities state expired drugs are safe to take, even those that expired years ago." The US Food and Drug Administration, on the other hand, advises against using expired drugs, because their effectiveness is not guaranteed.

Trottie's last-ditch appeals were denied.

In his last statement, at his execution, Trottie expressed love to witnesses who came to support him as well as to the relatives of Barbara and Titus Canada. He asked for forgiveness several times.

"Find it in your hearts to forgive me," Trottie said. "I'm sorry."

After Trottie finished his statement, the lethal injection was started. His eyes closed, then he took about eight quiet breaths. He was pronounced dead 22 minutes later at 6:35 p.m.

By David Carson. Posted on 11 September 2014.
Sources: Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Texas Attorney General's office, ABC Channel 13, Associated Press, Huntsville Item, Harvard Medical School, fda.gov.