Oklahoma asks US Supreme Court to delay 3 executions

Oklahoma officials have asked the US Supreme Court to delay execution of three inmates on death row until a decision is made on whether the state’s protocol for lethal injection is constitutional.

Oklahoma Attorney General Scott filed a Monday application that called for a delay in the three executions, the first one of which is planned for Thursday.

Scott said the application was needed to provide clarity over the matter.

The messed up execution of Clayton Lockett in April 2014 and other similar cases in Ohio and Arizona became very controversial in the US with human rights group calling for an end to the torturous killings.

Lockett's execution went so badly that the authorities tried to cancel it before it was over. Doctors could not save Lockett, which led to his death reportedly of a heart attack.

The warden later described the execution as "a bloody mess."

The state, which put executions on hold after Lockett moaned and writhed on the gurney for 43 minutes before his death, was about to resume them.

On Friday, the US Supreme Court agreed to decide a case on the constitutionality of the new combinations of drugs used for executions.

The new court filing would delay the executions of Richard Glossip on Thursday, John Grant on February 19, and Benjamin Cole on March 5.

“It is important that we act in order to best serve the interests of the victims of these horrific crimes and the state’s obligation to ensure justice in each and every case,” Pruitt said in a statement.

“The families of the victims in these three cases have waited a combined 48 years for the sentences of these heinous crimes to be carried out. Two federal courts have previously held the current protocol as constitutional, and we believe the United States Supreme Court will find the same. We thus support stays until a decision in the State’s favor is final or until viable alternative drugs can be obtained.”

NT/NT

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