Oklahoma reached a deal with three death row inmates on Friday to put their executions on hold until well into 2016 or even longer to investigate problems with death chamber protocols after the wrong drug was provided last month for use in one of the men’s scheduled lethal injection.
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Attorney General Scott Pruitt’s office is investigating two incidents involving the drug potassium acetate, which is not part of Oklahoma’s execution protocol.
The same wrong drug was used to execute baby killer Charles Frederick Warner in January, The Oklahoman revealed last week. Mr. Pruitt’s proposal takes the stay further, asking for no executions to be set until 150 days after the investigation is complete, the findings made public, and the prison department is found to be in compliance with lethal injection protocol. Death row inmates filed a lawsuit alleging the state’s secrecy law violates a contract in an earlier settlement with prisoners that required information about execution drugs be released to inmates.
News 9 partner The Frontier has learned all executions in the state of Oklahoma are on hold until 2016.
Questions about execution drugs also prompted the delay in Arkansas, where a judge has delayed all eight of the state’s scheduled lethal injections through January.
“My office does not plan to ask the court to set an execution date until the conclusion of its investigation”, Pruitt said.
Pruitt’s office did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment about the cause of the apparent mix-up. The execution log said the state used potassium chloride to stop Warner’s heart, according to a copy obtained by The Associated Press. Potassium chloride is likely to be absorbed by the body more quickly and the quantities needed may differ. According to the AP, vials containing potassium acetate were used to fill syringes labeled potassium chloride-which is, well, pretty damn disturbing. The federal judge hearing the case signed off on the agreement, administratively closing the case in an order on Friday.
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The next inmate scheduled to die was Glossip, who came within hours of his lethal injections before prison officials informed the governor that they had received potassium acetate instead of potassium chloride from a pharmacist, whose identity is shielded by state law.
