Legal Battle Over Heart Device Removal Before Execution

A legal dispute arises over a judge’s order to hospitalize a death row inmate to deactivate his implanted heart device prior to execution, with state attorneys arguing that such a move could cause chaos.

Black, scheduled for lethal injection on August 5, challenges the state’s refusal to deactivate his cardioverter-defibrillator—a device implanted in his chest to regulate heartbeat. His attorneys contend that during execution, the device might deliver shocks to restart his heart, though officials dispute he would feel these shocks, and argue that their attempts to deactivate it should be conducted immediately before the procedure to prevent potential complications.

The state maintains that deactivating the device is unnecessary and claims the transport would endanger personnel, hospital staff, the public, and Black himself. The state’s legal argument emphasizes that the order to move Black for the procedure on the morning of his execution presents a substantial risk.

Black, 69, was convicted in 1988 for the murders of his girlfriend and her two daughters, which prosecutors say he committed in a jealous rage. He was also serving time for shooting his girlfriend’s estranged husband at the time.

An initial court ruling had required the state to deactivate the device just before the execution, but the appeals involve whether this order is within the judge’s authority. The Tennessee Supreme Court is currently reviewing the case, with a trial scheduled for 2026.