Abstract
This article considers botched executions throughout history and the legal and policy consequences that have resulted from such incidents. The author adopts a retrospective approach to botched executions and focuses especially on those incidents that have had the greatest effect on society in the development, modification, or abolition of capital punishment. The article begins by discussing definitional issues and establishing what is meant by the term “botched execution,” before exploring the six forms of capital punishment that have most frequently been botched. The author concludes by examining the occurrences and consequences of botched executions through time and across jurisdictions, beginning with examples from ancient times and considering incidents that have occurred in Great Britain and its Empire, in France, and in the United States.