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Botched Oklahoma execution 'fell short of humane standards' – White House Botched Oklahoma execution 'fell short of humane standards' – White House
(35 minutes later)
A botched execution in Oklahoma "fell short of humane standards", the White House said on Wednesday, as the state faced calls for an independent investigation into how a condemned man ended up dying from a heart attack after writhing and thrashing on the gurney.A botched execution in Oklahoma "fell short of humane standards", the White House said on Wednesday, as the state faced calls for an independent investigation into how a condemned man ended up dying from a heart attack after writhing and thrashing on the gurney.
The state governor, Mary Fallin, who had earlier insisted the executions go ahead, was forced to announce an inquiry on Tuesday night after grim scenes in the death chamber at Oklahoma state penitentiary in McAlester, where an untested cocktail of drugs failed to kill 38-year-old Clayton Lockett. Fallin said the review would be carried out by the corrections department. After grim scenes in the Oklahoma death chamber, where an untested cocktail of drugs failed to kill 38-year-old Clayton Lockett, lawyers representing the next set of prisoners scheduled to be executed in the US called for a moratorium on all judicial killings.
For three minutes, Lockett groaned and writhed violently on the gurney; after nearly 20 minutes the procedure was called off. Forty-three minutes after the first drugs were administered, Lockett died of what was described as a “massive heart attack”. Officials later said a vein in Lockett had ruptured. The state governor, Mary Fallin, who had earlier insisted the executions go ahead, was forced to announce an inquiry on Tuesday night after the failure of the execution blew open the controversy surrounding the cocktails of drugs used in lethal injections.
The Associated Press reported that an autopsy was under way in Tulsa on Wednesday to determine Lockett’s manner of death. A second execution, that of another convicted killer, Charles Warner, was postponed. For three minutes, Lockett groaned and writhed violently on the gurney at Oklahoma state penitentiary in McAlester; after nearly 20 minutes the procedure was called off. Some 43 minutes after the first drugs were administered, Lockett died of what was described as a “massive heart attack”.
On Tuesday night Fallin said she had directed her officials to conduct an investigation. "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," she 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." An autopsy was under way in Tulsa on Wednesday to determine Lockett’s manner of death. A second execution, that of another convicted killer, Charles Warner, was postponed.
Lockett was convicted of the killing of 19-year-old Stephanie Neiman in 1999. She was shot and buried alive. Lockett was also convicted of raping her friend in the violent home invasion that lead to Neiman's death. In Washington, Jay Carney, the White House spokesman, said Barack Obama, believed the evidence showed that the death penalty did provide an effective deterrent to crime, but that some crimes were so heinous the death penalty is merited.
But Carney said that a “fundamental standard” in the US was that capital punishment should be carried out humanely. "I think everyone would recognise that this case fell short of that standard," he said.
Lockett was convicted of the killing of 19-year-old Stephanie Neiman in 1999. He shot her and told another man to bury her alive. Lockett was also convicted of raping her friend in the violent home invasion that lead to Neiman's death.
Warner, 46, was found guilty of raping and killing 11-month-old Adrianna Waller in 1997. He lived with the child's mother.Warner, 46, was found guilty of raping and killing 11-month-old Adrianna Waller in 1997. He lived with the child's mother.
The executions of Lockett and Warner were scheduled two hours apart on Tuesday night after an unprecedented legal and political dispute in Oklahoma. The executions of Lockett and Warner were scheduled two hours apart on Tuesday night after an unprecedented legal and political dispute in Oklahoma.
The inmates had challenged the secrecy surrounding Oklahoma's source of lethal injection drugs, winning at the state district court level, but two higher courts argued over which could grant a stay of execution. At one point, Fallin had publicly challenged the authority of the state supreme court when it granted a stay of execution. The court reversed its decision. The inmates had challenged the secrecy surrounding Oklahoma's source of lethal injection drugs, winning at the state district court level, but two higher courts argued over which could grant a stay of execution. At one point, Fallin had publicly challenged the authority of the state supreme court when it granted a stay of execution. The court reversed its decision after the governor’s comments.
Though lawyers for Lockett and Warner urged an independent review of Tuesday night’s events, the review ordered by Fallin will be conducted by the corrections department. It was unclear on Wednesday what the state's review of Lockett's death would entail. Though lawyers for Lockett and Warner urged an independent review of Tuesday night’s events, the review ordered by Fallin will be conducted by the corrections department. It was unclear on Wednesday what the state's review of Lockett's death would entail.
Death penalty states have scrambled to find new execution methods after drugs companies opposed to capital punishment, mostly based in Europe, withdrew their supplies.Death penalty states have scrambled to find new execution methods after drugs companies opposed to capital punishment, mostly based in Europe, withdrew their supplies.
Oklahoma decided to lethally inject Lockett and Warner with midazolam, which acts as a sedative and is also used as an anti-seizure drug, followed by vecuronium bromide and potassium chloride. Florida has used a similar method but it employed a higher dose of midazolam. Ohio used midazolam alongside a different drug, hydromorphone, in the January execution of Dennis McGuire, which took more than 20 minutes.Oklahoma decided to lethally inject Lockett and Warner with midazolam, which acts as a sedative and is also used as an anti-seizure drug, followed by vecuronium bromide and potassium chloride. Florida has used a similar method but it employed a higher dose of midazolam. Ohio used midazolam alongside a different drug, hydromorphone, in the January execution of Dennis McGuire, which took more than 20 minutes.
Madeline Cohen, an attorney for Warner, condemned the way Lockett was killed. "After weeks of Oklahoma refusing to disclose basic information about the drugs for tonight's lethal injection procedures, tonight Clayton Lockett was tortured to death," she said.Madeline Cohen, an attorney for Warner, condemned the way Lockett was killed. "After weeks of Oklahoma refusing to disclose basic information about the drugs for tonight's lethal injection procedures, tonight Clayton Lockett was tortured to death," she said.
The outcome on Tuesday in Oklahoma appeared likely to fuel the debate over the death penalty in the US, in particular the use of untested drug combinations.The outcome on Tuesday in Oklahoma appeared likely to fuel the debate over the death penalty in the US, in particular the use of untested drug combinations.
"I think any time one of these particularly egregious botches takes place, and it gets national attention, I think it snowballs with other prior botches we've seen," said Deborah Denno, a death penalty expert at Fordham University. "These problems have been happening for decades, but it's taking a different turn now, because they can't get the drug they really want. Midazolam in particular is very unpredictable how it will work in individuals.""I think any time one of these particularly egregious botches takes place, and it gets national attention, I think it snowballs with other prior botches we've seen," said Deborah Denno, a death penalty expert at Fordham University. "These problems have been happening for decades, but it's taking a different turn now, because they can't get the drug they really want. Midazolam in particular is very unpredictable how it will work in individuals."
Ryan Kiesel, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma, said that by using a “science experiment” to cause Lockett to die in pain over the course of more than 40 minutes, the state had “disgraced itself before the nation and world”.Ryan Kiesel, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma, said that by using a “science experiment” to cause Lockett to die in pain over the course of more than 40 minutes, the state had “disgraced itself before the nation and world”.
“More than any other power, the exercise of the power to kill must be accompanied by due process and transparency,” said Kiesel, adding that Lockett’s painful death had illustrated “the consequences of trading due process for political posturing”.“More than any other power, the exercise of the power to kill must be accompanied by due process and transparency,” said Kiesel, adding that Lockett’s painful death had illustrated “the consequences of trading due process for political posturing”.
Mark White, a former governor of Texas and the co-chair of the Constitution Project's Death Penalty Committee, called for all US states to suspend their use of lethal injections and overhaul the execution process in order to “restore public confidence in our criminal justice system”.Mark White, a former governor of Texas and the co-chair of the Constitution Project's Death Penalty Committee, called for all US states to suspend their use of lethal injections and overhaul the execution process in order to “restore public confidence in our criminal justice system”.
Calling Lockett’s case “the horrific, if sadly predictable, result” of a “trial and error” approach to execution, White said: “Americans may want tough justice, but most do not want to be cruel or inhumane in executing even the most heinous of criminals, and this was exactly that.”Calling Lockett’s case “the horrific, if sadly predictable, result” of a “trial and error” approach to execution, White said: “Americans may want tough justice, but most do not want to be cruel or inhumane in executing even the most heinous of criminals, and this was exactly that.”
The next inmate to face the gurney in the US is Robert Campbell, 42, in Texas on 13 May.
Lawyers in that state are preparing new litigation challenging the state’s refusal to provide any public information about where and how it is obtaining its lethal injection drugs. Like many other death penalty states, Texas has opted for secrecy in an attempt to keep supplies of the drugs open in the face of a European-lead boycott designed to prevent medicines designed to heal people being used for executions.
Texas’s death penalty protocol lists pentobarbital as its lethal drug of choice, and it is believed that the department of corrections has obtained supplies of the barbiturate from domestic compounding pharmacies that are not subject to federal regulations. The state is also known to have supplies of midazolam, the sedative used as the first of three drugs in Tuesday night’s grim proceedings in Oklahoma.
Maurie Levin, one of a team of lawyers working on the new Texas litigation, said that “if nothing else, Mr Lockett’s execution in Oklahoma makes clear that you can’t simply take the word of the executioner that everything will be okay. Access to information is necessary to be able to determine whether we are at risk of an execution like what happened last night.”
Jason Clark, a spokesman for Texas department of criminal justice, said in an email to the Guardian that the execution was expected to go ahead as planned: "TDCJ has no plans to change our procedures. Texas does not use the same drugs as Oklahoma as we use a single lethal dose of pentobarbital and we have done so since 2012."
The following scheduled execution is that of Russell Bucklew, 45, in Missouri on 21 May. Missouri has also taken the route of secrecy, shrouding all information about its source of lethal injection drugs in tight new confidentiality rules.
Bucklew’s case is all the more sensitive because he has a long-standing medical condition, cavernous hemangioma, a malformation of the blood vessels that could make it extremely difficult for officials to locate a working vein through which to inject the lethal drugs.
The prisoner’s lawyer, Cheryl Pilate, said that new legal challenges were being prepared “on several fronts” challenging Bucklew’s execution in the wake of the Oklahoma events. “What happened last night in Oklahoma was inevitable,” she told the Guardian.
“At some point we knew that the unknown drugs and the untested protocols that are being applied by death penalty states behind a wall of secrecy would result in a horrific botched execution and that’s exactly what occurred.”
Ohio this week released an internal report on the January execution of McGuire, who took 26 minutes to die and was heard gasping and snorting after the deadly chemicals began flowing. McGuire’s children sued the state, saying the execution amounted to torture. A priest who was an eyewitness described the procedure as “ghastly” and “inhumane”.Ohio this week released an internal report on the January execution of McGuire, who took 26 minutes to die and was heard gasping and snorting after the deadly chemicals began flowing. McGuire’s children sued the state, saying the execution amounted to torture. A priest who was an eyewitness described the procedure as “ghastly” and “inhumane”.
The investigation into McGuire’s death was led by the state’s department of rehabilitation, which announced on Monday that McGuire “did not experience pain, distress or air hunger after the drugs were administered.” The department said his execution was “conducted in a constitutional manner consistent with the policy.” It nonetheless said it would change the policy to substantially increase the amounts of both the sedative and painkiller used in its letal two-drug cocktail.The investigation into McGuire’s death was led by the state’s department of rehabilitation, which announced on Monday that McGuire “did not experience pain, distress or air hunger after the drugs were administered.” The department said his execution was “conducted in a constitutional manner consistent with the policy.” It nonetheless said it would change the policy to substantially increase the amounts of both the sedative and painkiller used in its letal two-drug cocktail.
In addition to Warner, there are eight scheduled executions in America through the rest of the year. The next is in Texas, which recently announced it had obtained a new supply of compounded pentobarbital from a secret source.
Robert Campbell is scheduled to die on 13 May for the 1991 murder of bank clerk Alexandra Rendon in Houston.
Jason Clark, a spokesman for Texas department of criminal justice, said in an email to the Guardian that the execution was expected to go ahead as planned: "TDCJ has no plans to change our procedures. Texas does not use the same drugs as Oklahoma as we use a single lethal dose of pentobarbital and we have done so since 2012."
Missouri has a secrecy law similar to its neighbour, Oklahoma. A pharmacy in Tulsa called the Apothecary Shoppe had briefly supplied compounded execution drugs to Missouri, but stopped in February. Russell Bucklew is scheduled for execution on May 21.Missouri has a secrecy law similar to its neighbour, Oklahoma. A pharmacy in Tulsa called the Apothecary Shoppe had briefly supplied compounded execution drugs to Missouri, but stopped in February. Russell Bucklew is scheduled for execution on May 21.
Tom Dart in Houston contributed reporting.Tom Dart in Houston contributed reporting.