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2May/140

Another Horribly Botched Execution in Oklahoma

From Democracy Now, Thursday, May 1, 2014

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin has ordered a review of the state’s execution procedures following the botched lethal injection that induced a prisoner’s fatal heart attack. The prisoner, Clayton Lockett, had initially won a stay for challenging the secrecy surrounding the untested execution drugs. But Fallin overruled Oklahoma’s Supreme Court last week and ordered the execution to proceed. Fallin’s review is being conducted by a member of her Cabinet, so its independence is in doubt. Oklahoma officials say Lockett suffered a vein failure, but critics say that claim could mark an effort to hide a problem with the untested chemicals. We are joined by Madeline Cohen, a federal public defender who represents Oklahoma death row prisoner Charles Warner, who was set to be killed right after Lockett, but whose execution has now been delayed for 14 days.

Read the complete transcript.