Doubts linger after botched execution in Oklahoma

OKLAHOMA CITY — Prison officials have renovated the death chamber at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, ordered backup medical equipment and developed new procedures for carrying out executions since a lethal injection went awry in the spring.

The state hopes to avoid a repeat of the April 29 execution of Clayton Lockett, who writhed on the gurney before a doctor noticed a problem with the intravenous line and the execution was called off. Lockett died 43 minutes after the procedure began.

But many death-penalty experts question whether Oklahoma will be ready to carry out the Nov. 13 execution of Charles Frederick Warner, convicted in the 1997 rape and murder of 11-month-old Adrianna Walker, the daughter of his roommate.

“Clearly things have gone wrong, and if you’re Oklahoma, and it’s your first execu- tion under this new protocol, and after the problematic execution of Lockett, this is the one you want to have go well,” said Richard Dieter, the 22-year director of the Washington, D.C.-based Death Penalty Information Center.

Much of the concern over Oklahoma’s new protocols centers on the drug formulas the state can use, especially using the sedative midazolam. States have turned to new drugs and sources such as compounding pharmacies after drug manufacturers, many of them in Europe, took steps to ensure their products are not used in executions.