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Could more electric chair executions be in Tennessee's future?

Posted at 10:30 PM, Nov 02, 2018
and last updated 2018-11-04 10:40:48-05

NASHVILLE, Tennessee — After Edmund Zagorski was electrocuted by the state this week as it carried out his death sentence, could we see more electric chair executions in Tennessee going forward?

One Nashville attorney who helped craft the state's death penalty laws says yes.

Nashville Attorney David Raybin says he thinks more inmates who committed their crimes prior to 1999 may shy away from lethal injection, given the debate over whether the chemicals used in lethal injection may torture inmates to death.

"In the future, I think more inmates who are eligible for the electric chair will elect to use it," Raybin said.

Raybin says he understands that emotion from people who think that convicted murderers should suffer... but he says that would make the state no better than the criminals.