Appeals court OKs 2nd execution attempt for Ohio man

June 24 (UPI) -- A federal appeals court has declined to stop Ohio from attempting to execute a man a second time, more than a decade after state officials spent 2 hours trying to find a vein during a botched lethal injection.

The 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said Tuesday that Romell Broom, 64, isn't protected by the 5th Amendment of the Constitution, which prohibits a person from being punished twice for the same crime -- a clause known as "double jeopardy."

Prison officials spent more than 2 hours in September 2009 sticking him at least 18 times with needles trying to find a vein for an IV line to administer lethal injection drugs. After they failed to find a vein, officials returned to him to jail cell to await a second attempt at an execution.

The appeals court also declined Broom's challenge based on his 8th Amendment rights, which protects against cruel and unusual punishment. The three-judge panel agreed with the Ohio Supreme Court's ruling, that Broom isn't likely to "suffer severe pain" during a second execution attempt "because the state has since amended its execution protocols ... and has executed numerous prisoners under those revamped protocols."

Broom was convicted of kidnapping, raping and killing a 14-year-old girl, Tryna Middleton, in East Cleveland in 1984.

He's scheduled to be executed March 16, 2022.