Something’s wrong

Last week the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled that death row prisoners couldn’t prove “actual injury” caused by the state’s keeping secret the source and makeup of the drugs they planned to use in their executions.

Today, Oklahoma fucked up the first of those executions. Clayton Lockett was still convulsing and trying to speak after they claimed he was unconscious (“Something’s wrong,” according to one report), so after a bit they admitted they’d only partially executed him and called a halt, but 20 minutes later he had a heart attack and died. All in all, it took nearly 45 minutes to torture him to death. The state blamed the botched execution on “vein failure,” because it certainly couldn’t have had anything to do with the Mystery Death Chemicals they were trying to put in his failed vein. Imagine, by the way, what sort of condition Lockett would have been in if he hadn’t had that unexpected heart attack after they’d stopped trying to kill him, with three poisonous drugs running through his body, but not in large enough quantities to do the job.

They didn’t give him the last meal he asked for either. Evidently there’s a $15 limit.

They decided not to go ahead with the second execution, also scheduled for today. I think that guy can prove “actual injury” now, although maybe not to the satisfaction of the fucking Oklahoma Supreme Court.

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