OKLAHOMA (USA): ATTORNEY GENERAL AGREES TO 6-MONTH STAY OF EXECUTION

May 8, 2014: Oklahoma’s Attorney General has agreed to a 6-month stay of execution for Charles Warner, a death row inmate scheduled to die on May 13, after the April 29 attempt to put inmate Clayton Lockett to death went horribly awry. That execution ignited a national debate over the lethal injection and the death penalty in America.
Warner’s attorneys requested a six month stay while officials conduct an investigation into the botched execution. Gov. Mary Fallin had moved Warner’s execution date two weeks, to May 13, when she announced the investigation into Lockett’s execution and the state’s execution protocols. “The Attorney General will not object to a 180-day stay by this Court to allow for completion of Commissioner Thompson’s investigation,” the court filing read. Attorney General Scott Pruitt had said he did not think any executions should take place until the investigation was finished, but today’s filing makes that official. “We are pleased that the AG agrees that Oklahoma cannot carry out a constitutional execution right now, and that a stay of at least six months is necessary to ensure the investigation into Clayton Lockett’s botched execution is completed, and to allow the Department of Corrections time to revise its protocol and train its staff,” Madeline Cohen, Warner’s attorney, told msnbc in an email. “We hope the court will act quickly to enter the stay, so that Mr. Warner no longer faces imminent execution.” (Sources: Msnbc, 08/05/2014)