Executions set to resume in Oklahoma

OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma plans to resume executing deathrow inmates, five years after lethal injections were put on hold following a series of death-chamber mishaps, state officials announced Thursday.

Gov. Kevin Stitt, Attorney General Mike Hunter and Oklahoma Department of Corrections Director Scott Crow said in a joint news release that the state will resume executions using a three-drug lethal injection protocol and that a source for the drugs has been secured. The three drugs are midazolam, vecuronium bromide and potassium chloride.

“I believe capital punishment is appropriate for the most heinous of crimes and it is our duty as state officials to obey the laws of the state of Oklahoma by carrying out this somber task,” Stitt said.

Hunter said his office has notified the state criminal appeals court that they’re ready to resume executions, which triggers a five-month wait before an execution can be scheduled.

Dale Baich, a federal public defender representing death row prisoners who are challenging the state’s execution procedures in federal court, said in a statement that he’s disappointed the state is reverting to the same three-drug protocol that has been used in past problematic executions.

“Oklahoma’s history of mistakes and malfeasance reveals a culture of carelessness around executions that should give everyone pause,” he said. “In the next few days, we will advise the federal court and continue with the ongoing litigation challenging the constitutionality of Oklahoma’s protocol.”

Oklahoma once had one of the busiest death chambers in the nation, but executions were put on hold following a botched lethal injection in 2014 that left an inmate writhing on the gurney and mix-ups in 2015 in which the wrong lethal drugs were delivered.