The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has posted a virtual tour of the Lethal Injection Facility at San Quentin. The 1-minute 56-second soundless piece sweeps in, out, around and above the wing's many rooms, including the "viewing area," the "prep/control" room and the "Injection Room" (a hexagonal space measuring 7 1/2 feet in diameter, according to the video).
We spoke to CDCR spokesman Seth Unger about why the video is on the Web site. He said that it was part of the evidence submitted in response to litigation about whether its old death chamber and execution procedures were unconstitutional.
"What we wanted to do was to highlight what we had done to address those concerns,"
"It's about transparency," Unger said this morning in a telephone interview. "It's all about transparency."
San Quentin hasn't been able to execute anyone on Death Row since Michael Angelo Morales' lethal injection was postponed over Constitutional questions about the state's procedures. Morales was convicted of murdering and raping Terri Lynn Winchell, 17, in a Lodi vineyard in 1981.
The facility's $850,000 remodel has been completed, Unger said, but the state needs U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel of San Jose to sign off on the changes before San Quentin can restart its executions.
Special note: We want to recognize PacoVilla's Corrections Blog for bringing the video to our attention with its Friday post.
Click here to go directly to the execution chamber video. Clicking here takes you to the department's home page, with links to other CDCR videos that include its new, "CDCR Going Green" piece.
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