 Ironically, Byrd's lengthy appeals process thwarted his wish to bring the graphic nature of the death penalty home to Ohioans.He originally had chosen to be executed in the electric chair because he said he had no desire to be "euthanized like a dog", but a court-ordered postponement of his scheduled execution in September 2001 allowed the Ohio General Assembly to pass a bill making lethal injection Ohio's sole means of execution.John Byrd called his execution an act of cowardice and "state-sanctioned murder", stating