USA - Oklahoma. The Oklahoma Supreme Court has stayed the executions of Clayton Lockett and Charles Warner

The Oklahoma Supreme Court (5-4) has stayed the executions of Clayton Lockett and Charles Warner, two death row inmates who have challenged the secrecy surrounding the source of the state's lethal injection drugs. Lockett, 38, Black, was scheduled to be executed on April 22 for the 1999 shooting death of 19-year-old Stephanie Nieman. Warner, was convicted in the 1997 raped and murdered of 11-month-old Adrianna Waller, the daughter of his girlfriend, and was scheduled to die on April 29. The state changed its execution protocol on March 21 to allow five different potential drug combinations for execution by lethal injection. On March 26 (see) Oklahoma County District Judge Patricia Parrish struck down the state's execution law in a ruling that said the protocol that prevented the inmates from seeking information about the drugs used in lethal injections violated their rights under the state constitution. The state partially followed judge Parrish’s recommendations, and on April 1 informed lawyers for the inmates that the inmates would be executed using a combination of midazolam, pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride never before used in the state. Executions have been conducted using the drug combination in Florida with lower doses. Anyway, the state would not disclose the source of the lethal drugs. In a 3-2 decision on April 18, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals (OCCA) said it could not grant a stay of execution because they had not filed a proper motion. Earlier, the Oklahoma Supreme Court said the OCCA should be the court to grant a stay, especially since there were unsettled questions about the constitutionality of the state's execution law. The two inmates have argued that the "veil of secrecy" surrounding Oklahoma's lethal injection protocol is unconstitutional. A lower court ruled in their favor in March. Attorneys for Lockett and Warner have filed an additional appeal to the state Supreme Court, stating, "The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals (OCCA) has repeatedly disavowed any authority to stay Appellants’ executions, even in the face of this Court’s direct ruling to the contrary. It simply cannot be that no court in this State has the power to enter a stay of execution in this case. Such a result would close the courts of justice to Appellants, in violation of the Oklahoma Constitution."