District Court Judge: Oklahoma Execution Law Declared Unconstitutional

[Jeepnokc]

Although I don't believe anyone is claiming either Warner or Lockett was innocent, this article was released just a few days ago.

http://www.newsweek.com/one-25-execu...-claims-248889

[Head]

Oklahoma steps on it's conservative dick, again.

[SoonerDave]

Given that the entire evolution of the "lethal drug cocktail" as a means of "humane" execution, I recall reading many years ago that military firing squads were trained to aim specifically at the heart of a condemned individual such that termination would be at or nearly instantaneous as a means to make the execution, in some vein, humane. Was wondering if anyone knew how this was eventually found to be inhumane? Surely seems preferable to the debacle that occurred last night.

[Midtowner]

On the one hand, Karma is a b****. On the other hand, even the convicted murderer has a right not to be tortured to death. From what I've picked up, now that the cocktail itself has been disclosed, a lot of medical experts are saying that there are problems with the particular drugs the state was using. Hopefully, we all remember Fallin and the legislature's hand in forcing this execution forward when the condemned were merely exercising their constitutional right to know what they were being executed with and to have a court determine whether it was permissible under the 8th Amendment.

[onthestrip]

I rail on the Oklahoma political climate quite a bit but this has to be the biggest black eye on our state. The state taking someones life is something that should not be taken lightly. The criminal was an evil killer, the state is not.

[jn1780]

Given that the entire evolution of the "lethal drug cocktail" as a means of "humane" execution, I recall reading many years ago that military firing squads were trained to aim specifically at the heart of a condemned individual such that termination would be at or nearly instantaneous as a means to make the execution, in some vein, humane. Was wondering if anyone knew how this was eventually found to be inhumane? Surely seems preferable to the debacle that occurred last night.

Right, we made it less "humane" trying to be "humane".

[BBatesokc]

Cash-Strapped Oklahoma To Conduct Executions By Hammering Squad | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

[kelroy55]

Cash-Strapped Oklahoma To Conduct Executions By Hammering Squad | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

Don't give them any ideas.

[kelroy55]

Cash-Strapped Oklahoma To Conduct Executions By Hammering Squad | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

Don't give them any ideas.

[Uncle Slayton]

Knowing I'll probably have to endure gratuitous comments about justice v. revenge, I'll say up front, I'm OK w/ revenge being exacted. This guy was a four time felon who shot a 19 year old with a sawed off shotgun and watched as she was buried alive. (this leaves off the discussion of forcible oral sodomy, rape, kidnapping and armed robbery). I can't seem to muster up even a single tiny iota of "give a sh*t" about whether he felt discomfort or fear. In fact, I hope the sensation he felt was some combination of boiling battery acid in which was suspended broken glass and salt.

If there's a hell, I hope his nuts are the main course at a demonic barbecue.

And the baby raper who got a two week stay? Substitute the chemical they gave the first guy with Liquid Plumr and insert the needle in a vein somewhere much lower than his arm.

[Cocaine]

Yeah this execution should never had happened with the drugs they chose. Especially considering this just happened in Ohio a few months ago. I didn't even know they went ahead with the execution until I heard about how they totally messed it up. O well I guess that's what happens when elect idiots to office who think it's okay to test new ways to execute people. I'm also pretty sure this qualifies as a cruel punishment. I'm not even against the death penalty but it was apparent before this execution happened that it might not be a good idea to use the drugs the state chose.

Also anyone that cries about the rights of the victim that Lockett killed her rights were violated but that doesn't mean the state Oklahoma has the right to violate Lockett's rights by the way they executed him. Okurahoma Shu Hitoshi Lockett Je Nai Desu.

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 dose of midazolam five times greater. Ohio used midazolam alongside a different drug, hydromorphone, in the January execution of Dennis McGuire, which took more than 20 minutes.

Oklahoma execution: Clayton Lockett writhes on gurney in botched procedure | World news | theguardian.com

So did anyone ever find out which pharmaceutical company the state bought these drugs from?

[ljbab728]

Another disturbing account of what may have happened in this farce of an execution.

How Oklahoma's execution drugs work | News OK

The three drugs used in a botched execution of convicted killer Clayton Derrell Lockett on Tuesday likely did not perform as intended, potentially leaving him “paralyzed and burning” until his death, one pharmacology expert said Wednesday.
“The drugs, as the order in which they’re given, serve two purposes: for one, it is to cause minimal pain and suffering to the person being executed, but two, it's also for the audience to not observe any distress in the person being executed because it can be interpreted being cruel,” pharmacologist David Kroll said.

Kroll said he assumed that Lockett got an incomplete dosage of the three drugs.

“I'm inclined to assume that one of the veins blew during the midazolam injection — he would've gotten a substandard dose of midazolam, mostly in only one arm, leaving him partly conscious. Then, the subsequent vecuronium and potassium chloride would’ve only gone in via one arm. So he would’ve been partly conscious of the (partial) respiratory paralysis and felt the burning and muscle effects of the partial potassium chloride overdose. That would explain the account that he ‘kicked his right leg and his head rolled to one side’ and then ‘began writhing and bucking’ as though he were trying to get up,” Kroll said, quoting media reports of what happened during the execution.

Kroll said some media outlets have reported that what happened Tuesday night was due, in part, to the “untested” or “secret” drug combination used.

[TheTravellers]

Knowing I'll probably have to endure gratuitous comments about justice v. revenge, I'll say up front, I'm OK w/ revenge being exacted. This guy was a four time felon who shot a 19 year old with a sawed off shotgun and watched as she was buried alive. (this leaves off the discussion of forcible oral sodomy, rape, kidnapping and armed robbery). I can't seem to muster up even a single tiny iota of "give a sh*t" about whether he felt discomfort or fear. In fact, I hope the sensation he felt was some combination of boiling battery acid in which was suspended broken glass and salt.

If there's a hell, I hope his nuts are the main course at a demonic barbecue.

And the baby raper who got a two week stay? Substitute the chemical they gave the first guy with Liquid Plumr and insert the needle in a vein somewhere much lower than his arm.

Why don't we just go to a method where the victim's family kills the accused/killer? Take the "state" out of it entirely, sort of like a duel in the old days. That way, it's pure revenge if you want it so bad. Which is all the death penalty is, it's not a deterrent to other criminals, it's not less expensive, there is pretty much absolutely no positive aspect to the death penalty except "I got my revenge".

[Jeepnokc]

Knowing I'll probably have to endure gratuitous comments about justice v. revenge, I'll say up front, I'm OK w/ revenge being exacted. This guy was a four time felon who shot a 19 year old with a sawed off shotgun and watched as she was buried alive. (this leaves off the discussion of forcible oral sodomy, rape, kidnapping and armed robbery). I can't seem to muster up even a single tiny iota of "give a sh*t" about whether he felt discomfort or fear. In fact, I hope the sensation he felt was some combination of boiling battery acid in which was suspended broken glass and salt.

If there's a hell, I hope his nuts are the main course at a demonic barbecue.

And the baby raper who got a two week stay? Substitute the chemical they gave the first guy with Liquid Plumr and insert the needle in a vein somewhere much lower than his arm.

Revenge has no place in the judicial system

[TheTravellers]

Inhofe says executions should not be postponed until the investigation is over, and Coburn says he thinks the death penalty is still a deterrent.
So wrong. Be nice if we could get Inhofe out, since Coburn's leaving. I'm scared sh**less that Mike Turner (“Second Amendment Rights are sacred in Oklahoma, and there’s no negotiation.”) will get elected and would expect Inhofe's replacement to be just as bad. Kill, baby, kill!!!!!

[Jersey Boss]

Revenge has no place in the judicial system

Exactly right about that. We do not have the state burn down the house of a convicted arsonist, nor does the state have a designated procedure to rape a rapist.

[TheTravellers]

And now it's world news...

Oklahoma inmate Tasered by prison staff on day of botched execution | World news | The Guardian

They talk about "getting it right" and "proven execution protocols" - sick and disgusting. Meanwhile, the rest of the civilized world doesn't execute people, and we're in the company of Iraq, North Korea, Somalia, Iran and other wonderful countries, and 18 states have abolished it, and of the 32 left, not that many actually execute people, and studies now show that innocent people have likely been executed. How about instead of finding better ways to kill people "humanely", we just stop?

[zookeeper]

And now it's world news...

Oklahoma inmate Tasered by prison staff on day of botched execution | World news | The Guardian

They talk about "getting it right" and "proven execution protocols" - sick and disgusting. Meanwhile, the rest of the civilized world doesn't execute people, and we're in the company of Iraq, North Korea, Somalia, Iran and other wonderful countries, and 18 states have abolished it, and of the 32 left, not that many actually execute people, and studies now show that innocent people have likely been executed. How about instead of finding better ways to kill people "humanely", we just stop?

No question we've killed innocent people in Oklahoma. Right here from Oklahoma County when a certain DA was more interested in conspiring with the forensics lady and setting up suspects, more interested in his cowboy image and re-election than justice. How those two stayed out of prison still boggles the mind. Macy withheld more evidence of innocence than maybe any DA from a city this size. It was scandalous. A lot of people knew it was going on, but it wasn't until he was old and sick that things began to dribble out. He had loyal ADA's that should have spoken out. They know who they are. Of course, those under his reign ended up getting caught later after thinking that was just how things were done. ADA Brad Miller is one I know went to prison, others come to mind.

[hoya]

Brad Miller did not go to prison. He had his license suspended for one year.

[zookeeper]

Brad Miller did not go to prison. He had his license suspended for one year.

It was a suspended sentence? And only a suspension? Who else am I thinking of?

[hoya]

He wasn't ever charged with a crime, he just had his license suspended.

[zookeeper]

He wasn't ever charged with a crime, he just had his license suspended.

You are right. The Oklahoma State Bar wanted Miller disbarred. The "Everyone Did It" defense came into play and Miller won out last year. His one-year suspension was considered scandalous in law circles all over the country. (Just Google it) Here is Jonathan Turley's blog post on the subject:
The Everyone-Did-It Defense: Oklahoma Supreme Court Refuses To Disbar Former Prosecutor Who Withheld Evidence in Capital Cases and Used False Subpoenas | JONATHAN TURLEY

THERE is the ethics in the Oklahoma County DA's office regarding capital crimes. Yes, we've killed innocent people. How can Brad Miller (and others in that office under Macy) sleep at night?

In fairness disclaimer: I had dealings with Brad Miller in 1997 that showed me - up close and personal - just how corrupt that office was. It had nothing to do with me personally, but I was involved in the process. I saw it and it was disgusting. The fact that many of those from his office are now judges should shake us all up. There's still a big book to be written on the Bob Macy and associates years in Oklahoma County.

[kevinpate]

... Yes, we've killed innocent people. ...

As definitive a statement as I have seen in print. Their names were?
No, you're not really expected to answer. That decision is for you to make, the same as your decision to make the above declaration.

[Midtowner]

Messing with the process like Miller did should have resulted in his disbarment. Just last year, a defense attorney, Mark Clayborne got his ticket punched for being convicted (and is still out on appeal) of suborning perjury. What's the real difference?

[KenRagsdale]

I have a layman's perspective on the judicial system, admittedly all civil proceedings. I am conservative politically, culturally and theologically. That stipulated, I don't want some government killing anyone on my behalf, except for those times of national preservation. As a conservative, I'm aware that governments can not only misuse power, but also make life-altering mistakes which significantly impact specific parties and the governed as a whole. If money or property are abused by government entities, redress is available in the courts or through the legislative process. Once an execution occurs, there is no "reset" button. I do not come to this decision lightly.