Federal public defenders who represented an Ohio killer put to death with a new lethal injection method are denying the condemned inmate was coached to fake suffocation.
The lawyers say it appears death row inmate Dennis McGuire may have misunderstood a lawyer's request to communicate truthfully what was happening to him during the execution.
Federal public defender Allen Bohnert's statement released Tuesday also renewed a call to Gov. John Kasich to impose a moratorium on executions.
Prison records released Monday say McGuire told guards that state public defender Robert Lowe counseled him to make a show of his death. The state public defender's office says an internal review failed to substantiate that allegation.
Kasich spokesman Rob Nichols says the state's procedure is under review as it is after every execution.