S.C. inmate's firing squad execution was 'botched,' with bullets mostly missing his heart, lawyers say

Mikal Mahdi was executed on April 11, becoming the second man in South Carolina to be executed by a three-person firing squad this year after admitting to killing an off-duty police officer in 2004.

Mikal Mahdi was executed on April 11, becoming the second man in South Carolina to be executed by a three-person firing squad this year after admitting to killing an off-duty police officer in 2004.

Mahdi’s legal team filed a complaint with the South Carolina Supreme Court on Thursday saying that the execution was botched. The filing contained a report from forensic pathologist Dr. Jonathan Arden, who reviewed Mahdi’s autopsy and photographs of the gunshot wounds and bullet fragments.

The attorneys claim that only two of the bullets struck Mahdi, and that they largely missed his heart in such a way that he suffered long enough to violate constitutional law against cruel and unusual punishment.

Mikal Mahdi.South Carolina Department of Corrections via AFP - Getty ImagesThe South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDOC) commissioned an autopsy that found all three bullets struck Mahdi's heart, and that other statements are "interpretations" of what the examination showed.

“The causes of this botch are unknown,” Mahdi’s legal team wrote in their notice. “Did one member of the execution team miss Mr. Mahdi entirely? Did they not fire at all? How did the two who did shoot Mr. Mahdi miss his heart?”