The state of Oklahoma was supposed to execute two inmates on Tuesday night. Instead it postponed the second execution after the first man scheduled to be executed died — but not the way he was supposed to.
Four-time felon Clayton D. Lockett was scheduled to be injected with a controversial new drug combination. The drugs were administered. Lockett was declared unconscious. Then everything went wrong.
Witnesses at the scene reported Lockett calling out “man” and “something’s wrong" after being declared unconscious, The New York Times reported.
About three minutes after being declared unconscious at 6:33 p.m., local time, "Lockett began breathing heavily, writhing on the gurney, clenching his teeth and straining to lift his head off the pillow," according to the Associated Press.
Oklahoma Department of Corrections director Robert Patton halted the execution. Then Lockett died of a heart attack at 7:06 p.m., local time, according to The Times.
"It was extremely difficult to watch," Lockett's attorney, David Autry, told the AP.
Lockett, 38, was convicted of shooting a 19-year-old woman, then watching as accomplices buried her alive after she walked in on a robbery in progress.
His execution was controversial because, among other reasons, the drugs used were untested, and the state of Oklahoma refused to reveal where it had acquired them. Other states have also refused in some instances to reveal where they acquired lethal-injection drugs.
Last Monday, the Oklahoma Supreme Court said it would delay the executions until it resolved the secrecy matter surrounding the lethal-injection drugs to "avoid a miscarriage of justice," The Times reported. However, Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin said the Supreme Court overstepped its powers, and ordered officials to continue with both executions on Tuesday.
After Lockett's botched execution, Patton requested a 14-day stay for the execution of Charles F. Warner, which had been scheduled to begin two hours after Lockett was killed by the state. Fallin issued an executive order granting the stay late Tuesday night.
I've postponed tonight's second execution and ordered an evaluation of Oklahoma's lethal dosage protocol.http://t.co/hqMhY3tX6J
— Governor Mary Fallin (@GovMaryFallin) April 30, 2014
“I have asked the Department of Corrections to conduct a full review of Oklahoma’s execution procedures to determine what happened and why during this evening’s execution of Clayton Derrell Lockett,” Fallin said in a statement. “I have issued an executive order delaying the execution of Charles Frederick Warner for 14 days to allow for that review to be completed.”
Prison officials said Lockett's veins collapsed during his execution, according to the statement, which was posted on Fallin's official website.
Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.
No comments:
Post a Comment