Pedro Medina
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Not to be confused with Colombian poet Pedro Medina Avendaño.
Pedro Medina (October 5, 1957 – March 25, 1997), who was among nearly 125,000 Cubans who came to the United States during the 1980 Mariel boatlift, was executed at Florida State Prison in the town of Starke for stabbing a former teacher to death in Orlando in 1982. Medina's last words before being murdered on March 25, 1997, were "I am still innocent". The electric chair in which Medina was being killed, Old Sparky, malfunctioned, causing flames to shoot out of his head.
[edit] Controversy
In 1999, the state of Florida heard a petition from Thomas Harrison Provenzano, another death row inmate, that argued that the electric chair was a cruel and unusual punishment. During the proceedings, Glen Dickson, Medina's pastor, testified that he saw the flames rising out of Medina's head, smelled an acrid smell and saw Medina take three labored breaths after the electrical current to the chair had been turned off and the strap holding him in it has been loosened.
Patricia McCusker, Assistant Superintendent of the Work Camp at Florida State Prison, also testified. She said she saw Medina's left hand tighten as the current was being applied. She corroborated Dickson's observation of smoke and flames coming from Medina's head and a smell, which she said was a burning smell.
McCusker stated that she also saw movements in Medina's chest after the current had been turned off, but claimed it was contractions of the chest muscle that did not imply breathing.
