OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin this evening issued a stay of execution for one inmate after prison officials said another inmate’s veins collapsed during an earlier execution procedure.
“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,” said Fallin. “I have issued an executive order delaying the execution of Charles Frederick Warner for 14 days to allow for that review to be completed.”
Lockett’s execution was halted when it appeared the lethal injection administered to him was ineffective. He remained unconscious and passed away in the execution chamber at 7:06 p.m.
USA Today reported that eyewitnesses said that Lockett, 38, “struggled violently, groaned and writhed after lethal drugs were administered by Oklahoma officials”. Another report stated that he called out “man” and “something’s wrong,” and writhed and twitched in agony twenty minutes after the procedure began.
Execution officials said Lockett remained unconscious after the lethal injection drugs were administered.
The governor issued an executive order granting a 14-day stay for inmate Warner, who was scheduled to be executed two hours after Lockett’s procedure began. Warner’s execution is scheduled for May 13.
Lockett was convicted of a 1999 fatal shooting of a woman and Warner was convicted of killing his girlfriend’s baby daughter in 1997.
As a result of the Oklahoma Supreme Court dissolving its stay of execution for two inmates, Governor Mary Fallin said on April 24 that the state is proceeding with plans to execute both men by lethal injection on Tuesday, April 29.
The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled on April 23 that the rights of inmates Clayton Derrell Lockett and Charles Frederick Warner were not being violated. The court’s ruling means that the executions of the two convicted murderers can proceed.
“This ruling shows that our legal system works,” said Fallin. “The defendants had their day in court. The court has made a decision. Two men that do not contest their guilt in heinous murders will now face justice, and the families and friends of their victims will now have closure.”
The state Department of Corrections worked on specifics and logistics of how both executions would be carried out Tuesday, leading up to the botched execution.
Both inmates challenged their executions on the grounds they needed information on the supplier of the execution drugs. The identity of the drug supplier is confidential under state law.
The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty said immediately after the incident that “We demand that the state halt all executions and carry out an independent investigation. The death penalty is clearly untenable and cannot continue. The state of Oklahoma shrouded the process in secrecy and undermined public confidence in our criminal justice system and our democracy by threating to impeach State Supreme Court Judges who originally voted to stay these executions. The government of Oklahoma sacrificed transparency and public accountability in favor of expediency – and the consequence were grotesque and preventable.”
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In case you guys missed this in school, everyone in this country has the same rights. Cruel and inhumane punishment is forbidden. BUT, if you kill someone, you may be sentenced to death. But, we don’t believe that torture is an acceptable way of handing out punishment. It is that idea that separates us from the Iraqs, North Koreas, and other countries who practice inhuman punishments. I don’t condone what these prisoners, as a matter of fact, I have had a family member murdered.
Those of you want are “glad” he suffered, or think he should be “beaten to death with hammers” are no better than he was. I pity you. You have no heart nor a soul.
good he deserved it all. America is a shit hole now. Why are we worried about treating some one who took a somones life humanly. Im sure his victum was treated humanly when he was killing her.
Don’t necessarily want these worthless excuses for human beings to suffer. But I do want them DEAD. GONE. In other words, I don’t want to feed, clothe and house you for the next 30 or 40 years. And I definitely don’t want to take the chance that you might escape at some point and take another innocent life. You need to be DEAD.
I’m GLAD he suffered. As far as I’m concerned, he didn’t suffer enough. To bad he couldn’t be resuscitated & had it done all over again.
Who really cares if this SOB “struggled violently, groaned and writhed after lethal drugs were administered.” At that time they should have opened the doors and let family members of the victim, go inside the chamber and beat the piss out of him with hammers. Just so he didn’t have to suffer of course.
I’m not a doctor, but is a collapsed vein the fault of Oklahoma. There are other ways to execute these vermin, a firing squad and a rope come to mind. This guys pain is over, but his victims familys pain isn’t. Now the other guy, he should have been shot an hour after being found guilty, killing babies, what a shame.
Criminal Justice in America is highly flawed. But in cases where incontrovertible evidence or admission points to the guilt of the convicted, they should be murdered in the same way they murdered their victim. The problem is when innocent people face death. So, in essence the Death Penalty must be abolished if even a shadow of a doubt is cast about their potential innocence. Some murderers are proud of what they did and want to die rather than face life in prison. But it should hurt
Yes, this is completely wrong, he should be killed in the same manor as his victoms