The story of a Tennessee death row inmate’s heart implant, and attempts to get it disabled before his execution, has gotten even more complicated.
A county court ordered the Tennessee Department of Correction to disable Byron Black’s heart implant the day of his execution, Aug. 5, for fear the device would dole out painful shocks and try to revive him as he died. Lawyers representing the agency said it couldn’t obey the order because there was only one provider available, Nashville General Hospital, and its medical team wouldn’t comply with the order’s detailed timeline.
The hospital now says it never agreed to deactivate the device at all.
“Any assertion the hospital would participate in the procedure was premature,” reads a statement sent to WPLN News from spokesperson Cathy Poole.
The Attorney General’s office declined to comment on this story, but its attorneys on Wednesday filed a document in the Tennessee Supreme Court shortly afterward, explaining the situation. In short, a medical contractor told TDOC an appointment to disable the device was confirmed. Then that plan began to unravel.
A county court ordered the TDOC to bring in medical experts the day of the execution and disable the device with high-tech equipment. That was to avoid the issues that could come with a less sophisticated method, using a magnet.
The state pushed back on the specifics of the order, saying Nashville General would be the ideal provider because that is where Black had the device implanted, and doctors there had been managing his care. However, they said the medical team refused to deactivate the device on prison grounds, as the order required and insisted on carrying out the task on Aug. 4, the day before the execution. Attorneys made this case in court hearings as well as in legal filings.
Citing these issues, the state appealed the order, asking the Tennessee Supreme Court to step in.
Poole’s statement said the agency failed to go through the proper channels and prematurely reported the hospital’s agreement.
“The correctional healthcare provider contracted by the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC), did not contact appropriate Nashville General Hospital leadership with its request to deactivate the implanted defibrillator,” Poole’s statement continued.
She also wrote that even if Nashville General’s leadership would have signed off on the deactivation, there would have been more work to do.
“Our contract with the correctional healthcare provider is to support the ongoing medical care of its patients,” she wrote. “This request is well outside of that agreement and would also require cooperation with several other entities, all of which have indicated they are unwilling to participate.”
The correctional healthcare provider contracted by TDOC is Centurion, according to the latest document filed. It contained testimony from Jillian Bresnahan, the department’s assistant commissioner of clinical services. She said Centurion provides care to inmates on prison grounds, and inmates are transported to other medical facilities if they need more intense care. This is why Black was taken to Nashville General to have the device implanted originally in 2024.
She said a Centurion physician confirmed the Aug. 4 appointment, and then let her know that an appointment on the day of the execution was available.
“When I had offered multiple times to be the point of contact for scheduling these appointments, Centurion assured me they could coordinate with Nashville General Hospital and would let me know if they needed me to step in,” Bresnahan’s testimony reads.
On July 24, she said, Centurion’s vice president of operations called her and said the company’s legal team recommended ceasing all engagement with Black’s execution. She said she then made several calls to both Nashville General and the Cardiology Clinic and left voicemails, but never got a call back.
Then on July 29, the department “received information” that Nashville General wouldn’t be participating in the execution, and that the information was consistent with a statement given to WPLN.
After that, she said, she and Commissioner Frank Strada each contacted the cardiology clinic, and she personally called several people.
“No one has returned my calls,” she said.
During a July 22 hearing, the judge over the case, Chancellor Russell T. Perkins voiced disappointment from the bench. He said he was confused about why the prison department consulted only one provider.
“I didn’t understand that,” he said. “I still don’t. It’s like a passive-aggression pushback against the court’s order.”
Black’s legal team made similar complaints.
Deputy Attorney General Cody Brandon said the claims were unfounded.
“The criticisms of lack of diligence, they’re just not supported by the record,” he said. “TDOC has been making these arrangements.”
He said the order put TDOC in an impossible position, especially considering it wouldn’t allow the magnet deactivation method and had a tight timeline.
“The magnet’s not good enough,” he said. “The day before is not good enough. The doctors that manage Mr. Black’s (heart implant) doing it the day before is not good enough … I’m not sure what will be enough at this point to settle the court.”
WPLN contacted Black’s legal team, which said they hadn’t been notified that Nashville General was unwilling to participate. They said they were hopeful Gov. Bill Lee would answer the call to commute Black’s sentence. In addition to those who oppose the death penalty generally, there has been wide support for a reprieve from advocates for disabled people. Black has an intellectual disability, and has repeatedly gotten a 70 or below on IQ tests.
The office of Chancellor Perkins declined to comment for this story.
WPLN contacted the attorney general’s office, which deferred to the Tennessee Department of Correction. TDOC hasn’t responded as of the most recent update to this story.
This is a developing story that was last updated at 1:53 p.m. Wednesday.
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