USA - Oklahoma. Clayton Lockett Dies After Execution Is Botched.

Clayton Lockett Dies After Execution Is Botched. A botched execution using a disputed new drug combination left an Oklahoma inmate writhing and clenching his teeth on the gurney, leading prison officials to halt the proceedings before the inmate's eventual death from a heart attack. Clayton Lockett, 38, was declared unconscious 10 minutes after the 1st of the state's new 3-drug combination was administered. 3 minutes later, though, he began breathing heavily, writhing on the gurney, clenching his teeth and straining to lift his head off the pillow. The blinds were eventually lowered to prevent those in the viewing gallery from watching what was happening in the death chamber, and the state's top prison official eventually called a halt to the proceedings, although it didn't save Lockett. "It was a horrible thing to witness. This was totally botched," said Lockett's attorney, David Autry. "They should have anticipated possible problems with an untried execution protocol. Obviously the whole thing was gummed up and botched from beginning to end. Halting the execution obviously did Lockett no good," Autry said. Republican Gov. Mary Fallin ordered a 14-day stay of execution for another inmate who was scheduled to die 2 hours after Lockett, Charles Warner. She also ordered the Department of Corrections to conduct a "full review of Oklahoma's execution procedures to determine what happened and why during this evening's execution." Robert Patton, the director of the Department of Corrections, halted Lockett's execution about 20 minutes after the first drug was administered, saying later there had been vein failure. All 3 drugs, however, were administered. The execution began at 6:23 p.m. when officials began administering the 1st drug, and a doctor declared Lockett to be unconscious at 6:33 p.m. About 3 minutes later, though, Lockett began breathing heavily, writhing on the gurney, clenching his teeth and straining to lift his head off the pillow. After about 3 minutes, a doctor lifted the sheet that was covering Lockett to examine the injection site. "There was some concern at that time that the drugs were not having that desired effect, and the doctor observed the line at that time and determined the line had blown," Patton said at a news conference afterward, referring to Lockett's vein rupturing. After that, an official who was inside the death chamber lowered the blinds, preventing those in the viewing room from seeing what was happening. Patton then made a series of phone calls before calling a halt to the execution. "After conferring with the warden, and unknown how much drugs went into him, it was my decision at that time to stop the execution," Patton told reporters. Lockett remained unconscious and passed away in the execution chamber at 7:06 p.m. Autry questioned the amount of the sedative midazolam that was given to Lockett, saying he thought that the 100 milligrams called for in the state's execution protocol was "an overdose quantity." He also was skeptical of the department's determination that Lockett's vein failed. "I'm not a medical professional, but Mr. Lockett was not someone who had compromised veins. He was in very good shape. He had large arms and very prominent veins," Autry said. It was the 1st time Oklahoma administered midazolam as the 1st drug in its execution drug combination, but other states have used it. Florida administers 500 milligrams of midazolam as part of its 3-drug combination. Lockett was convicted of shooting 19-year-old Stephanie Neiman in 1999 after Neiman and a friend arrived at a home the men were robbing. Warner had been scheduled to be put to death 2 hours later in the same room and on the same gurney. The 46-year-old was convicted of raping and killing his roommate's 11-month-old daughter in 1997.  Lockett and Warner had sued the state for refusing to disclose details about the execution drugs, including where Oklahoma obtained them. The case, filed as a civil matter, placed Oklahoma's 2 highest courts at odds and prompted calls for the impeachment of state Supreme Court justices after the court last week issued a rare stay of execution. The high court on April 23 (see) dissolved its stay and dismissed the inmates' claim that they were entitled to know the source of the drugs. By then, Gov. Mary Fallin had weighed into the matter by issuing a stay of execution of her own - a 1-week delay in Lockett's execution that resulted in both men being scheduled to die on the same day. Lockett becomes the 3rd inmate to be put to death in Oklahoma this year, the 111th overall since the state resumed capital punishment in 1990, the 20th inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 1379th overall since the nation resumed executions on January 17, 1977.