Career
Mr. Melson was shot in the back of the head In 1999, the state of Florida heard a petition from Thomas Harrison Provenzano, another Death Row inmate, that argued that the electric chair was a cruel and unusual punishment. During the proceedings, Michael Minerva, who had witnessed White"s death, said that "White"s body stiffened and was thrust upward and backward to the back of the electric chair" after the current had been switched on to the chairman
He also said that he heard air moving through White"s lips and throat, though he could not tell whether the air was going in or out.