Tennessee man with heart device to be executed despite concerns it may shock him

A Tennessee death row inmate is scheduled to die by lethal injection Tuesday morning despite concerns from his lawyers that his heart device could repeatedly shock him and expose him to unconstitutional suffering

A Tennessee death row inmate is scheduled to die by lethal injection Tuesday morning despite concerns from his lawyers that his heart device could repeatedly shock him and expose him to unconstitutional suffering.

Byron Black is poised to be put to death at 10 a.m. at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville after the U.S. Supreme Court and Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee declined Monday to intervene.

Lawyers for Black had petitioned the Supreme Court to halt the procedure based on a claim that he is mentally incompetent and therefore should not be executed because it would violate his constitutional rights. In addition, the lawyers asked the high court to review whether proceeding with his execution without first deactivating his implantable cardioverter defibrillator, or ICD, would defy the Eighth Amendment's prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment.

The Supreme Court denied the requests Monday.

Kelley Henry, one of Black's lawyers, called on Lee to step in to prevent "risking a grotesque spectacle by executing Byron Black."