Execution of Clayton Lockett
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The death of Clayton Derrell Lockett occurred on April 29, 2014, when he suffered a
heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...
during an
execution Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the State (polity), state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to ...
by
lethal injection Lethal injection is the practice of injecting one or more drugs into a person (typically a barbiturate, paralytic, and potassium solution) for the express purpose of causing rapid death. The main application for this procedure is capital puni ...
in the U.S. state of
Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
. Lockett, aged 38, was convicted in 2000 of murder, rape, and kidnapping. Lockett was administered an untested mixture of drugs that had not previously been used for executions in the United States. Although the execution was stopped, Lockett died 43 minutes after being sedated. He writhed, groaned, convulsed, and spoke during the process and attempted to rise from the execution table fourteen minutes into the procedure, despite having been declared unconscious.


Background


Early life

Clayton Lockett was born in 1975 to a drug-using mother. She abandoned him when he was three years old, and he was then raised by his father who severely physically abused Lockett throughout his childhood, gave him drugs starting at age three, and encouraged him to steal and not be caught.


Criminal history

In 1992, at the age of sixteen, Lockett pleaded guilty in Kay County to burglary and knowingly concealing stolen property. He received a seven-year prison sentence. Earlier that year, he pleaded no contest to two counts of intimidating state witnesses. While imprisoned at age 16 at the
Oklahoma State Penitentiary The Oklahoma State Penitentiary, nicknamed "Big Mac", is a prison of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections located in McAlester, Oklahoma, on . Opened in 1908 with 50 inmates in makeshift facilities, today the prison holds more than 750 male off ...
, a prison for adults, Lockett was
gang A gang is a group or society of associates, friends or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over territory in a community and engages, either individually or collectivel ...
raped Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or agai ...
by three adult male prisoners. In 1996, Lockett was sentenced to four years in prison for a conviction in Grady County, for conspiracy to commit a felony. In June 1999, Lockett kidnapped and shot Stephanie Neiman, a 19-year-old high school graduate, a friend of Lockett's other victims, and a witness to his crimes. He used duct tape to bind her hands and cover her mouth. After being kidnapped and driven to a remote area, Neiman stated that she would go to the police as soon as he released her. Lockett walked her into a ravine and had his accomplices help her over a barbed wire fence, where Lockett shot her from a distance of approximately six feet with a 1/4-ounce slug from a sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun. The impact from the slug tore into her chest and shoulder, knocking her to the ground, then Lockett's gun jammed. Lockett then walked back to his vehicle, used a screwdriver to unjam his shotgun, walked back to where Neiman lay, and shot her in the chest at a distance of about two feet. That shot also was not fatal. Lockett stated, "I ain't going to shoot her again," and instead instructed an accomplice to bury her alive. She then died from the wounds. On June 4, 1999, Lockett and his two accomplices, Alfonzo Veasey Lockett and Shawn Mathis were arrested in Enid, Oklahoma by Perry Police Detective Lieutenant David Farrow at a convenience store located on South Van Buren Street. The shotgun used in the murder was hidden in a box spring mattress inside of a garage behind a house where Lockett had been staying. Farrow's investigation uncovered approximately 86 individual pieces of evidence that were presented at Lockett's trial to include, the 12 gauge shotgun used, DNA from the murder victim, fingerprints from the duct tape used to bind his victims, and eyewitness testimony. At his 1999 murder trial, this evidence led to Lockett and his accomplices' convictions. In 2000, he and his accomplices were convicted of murder, rape, forcible sodomy, kidnapping, assault, and
battery Battery most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source *Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...
. Clayton Lockett was sentenced to death, while his two accomplices, Alfonzo Veasey Lockett and Shawn Mathis, to life in prison.


On lethal injections

From 1890 to 2010, the rate of botched
lethal injection Lethal injection is the practice of injecting one or more drugs into a person (typically a barbiturate, paralytic, and potassium solution) for the express purpose of causing rapid death. The main application for this procedure is capital puni ...
s in the United States was 7.1%, higher than any other form of execution, with firing squads at 0%, the
electric chair An electric chair is a device used to execute an individual by electrocution. When used, the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes fastened on the head and leg. This execution method, ...
at 1.9%,
hanging Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging i ...
at 3.1%, and the
gas chamber A gas chamber is an apparatus for killing humans or other animals with gas, consisting of a sealed chamber into which a poisonous or asphyxiant gas is introduced. Poisonous agents used include hydrogen cyanide and carbon monoxide. Histor ...
at 5.4%. In 2011,
Hospira Hospira was an American global pharmaceutical and medical device company with headquarters in Lake Forest, Illinois. It had approximately 19,000 employees. Before its acquisition by Pfizer, Hospira was the world's largest producer of generic inj ...
announced that it would stop manufacturing
sodium thiopental Sodium thiopental, also known as Sodium Pentothal (a trademark of Abbott Laboratories), thiopental, thiopentone, or Trapanal (also a trademark), is a rapid-onset short-acting barbiturate general anesthetic. It is the thiobarbiturate analog of pe ...
, due to use by American prisons for executions. "Virtually all" death rows in the US were left without a steady supply of the drug, which is used to numb the pain of
potassium chloride Potassium chloride (KCl, or potassium salt) is a metal halide salt composed of potassium and chlorine. It is odorless and has a white or colorless vitreous crystal appearance. The solid dissolves readily in water, and its solutions have a salt ...
stopping the heart. Some states bartered supplies of execution drugs, while other states were accused of illegally buying drugs from
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
and other sources. The
Drug Enforcement Administration The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA; ) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating drug trafficking and distribution within th ...
seized supplies of sodium thiopental from several states in spring and summer 2011, questioning how they were imported. Other manufacturers have also refused to provide pharmaceutical drugs for the purpose of execution, and a European export ban added to problems obtaining the necessary drugs. Due to the supply issues, Oklahoma used an untested mixture of
midazolam Midazolam, sold under the brand name Versed among others, is a benzodiazepine medication used for anesthesia and procedural sedation, and to treat severe agitation. It works by inducing sleepiness, decreasing anxiety, and causing a loss of a ...
(to make the victim fall unconscious),
vecuronium bromide Vecuronium bromide, sold under the brand name Norcuron among others, is a medication used as part of general anesthesia to provide skeletal muscle relaxation during surgery or mechanical ventilation. It is also used to help with endotracheal in ...
(to paralyse), and
potassium chloride Potassium chloride (KCl, or potassium salt) is a metal halide salt composed of potassium and chlorine. It is odorless and has a white or colorless vitreous crystal appearance. The solid dissolves readily in water, and its solutions have a salt ...
(used to stop the heart) for Lockett's execution. While Florida had previously used the same three drugs in a 2013 execution, they used 500 mg of midazolam rather than the 100 mg used by Oklahoma. Secrecy laws in Oklahoma prevent the public knowing more than which three drugs were used. The state refused to explain why that drug combination was chosen, what the drug specifics were as to
labelling Labelling or using a label is describing someone or something in a word or short phrase. For example, the label "criminal" may be used to describe someone who has broken a law. Labelling theory is a theory in sociology which ascribes labelling ...
, and how they were obtained. Reportedly, the drugs were bought with petty cash, making the transaction harder to track and to challenge legally. In a recent Florida case, experts testified that midazolam would not cause unconsciousness. Instead of sedating some patients, midazolam can make them violent. Dennis McGuire took 25 minutes to die; he gasped and snorted. The
U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
has ruled that if the first drug does not make the inmate unconscious there is an unacceptable risk of suffocation and pain from the two following drugs. Potassium chloride causes severe pain if used without an anesthetic. Pharmacology professor, Craig Stevens of
Oklahoma State University Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...
asked why
anesthesiology Anesthesiology, anaesthesiology, or anaesthesia is the medical specialty concerned with the total perioperative care of patients before, during and after surgery. It encompasses anesthesia, intensive care medicine, critical emergency medicine, ...
or
pharmacology Pharmacology is a branch of medicine, biology and pharmaceutical sciences concerned with drug or medication action, where a drug may be defined as any artificial, natural, or endogenous (from within the body) molecule which exerts a biochemica ...
experts were not consulted. "Midazolam has no analgesic properties. It's a whole different drug class than sodium thiopental or barbiturates," Stevens said. Stevens described dying from the other two drugs without anesthetic as "horrific". The drug combination used is considered too painful to euthanise animals. "Veterinarians in at least one state are barred from using a three-drug formula which has been used on several inmates, including Clayton Lockett."
Oklahoma Governor The governor of Oklahoma is the head of government of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Under the Oklahoma Constitution, the governor serves as the head of the Oklahoma executive branch, of the government of Oklahoma. The governor is the ''ex officio ...
Mary Fallin Mary Fallin (; née Copeland; born December 9, 1954) is an American politician who served as the 27th governor of Oklahoma from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, she was elected in 2010 and reelected in 2014. She was the first and s ...
had strongly pushed for the execution to take place despite the lack of standard drugs, initially issuing an executive order to proceed despite a stay by the Supreme Court of Oklahoma. Republican allies of Fallin started
impeachment Impeachment is the process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. In ...
proceedings against the justices who tried to delay the execution; the stay was later lifted. Lockett's lawyers also unsuccessfully sought to force Oklahoma to reveal the source of the drugs, which the state refused. Oklahoma officials testified that the drugs to be used in Lockett's execution had been legally obtained and had not expired. Before the execution, Lockett's stepmother LaDonna Hollins was reported as saying, "I want to know what mixture of drugs are you going to use now? Is this instant? Is this going to cause horrible pain?" and "I know he's scared. He said he's not scared of the dying as much as the drugs administered."


Execution

Lockett's failed execution occurred at
Oklahoma State Penitentiary The Oklahoma State Penitentiary, nicknamed "Big Mac", is a prison of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections located in McAlester, Oklahoma, on . Opened in 1908 with 50 inmates in makeshift facilities, today the prison holds more than 750 male off ...
in
McAlester, Oklahoma McAlester is the county seat of Pittsburg County, Oklahoma, Pittsburg County, Oklahoma. The population was 18,363 at the time of the 2010 census, a 3.4 percent increase from 17,783 at the 2000 census,Shuller, Thurman"McAlester" profile ''Encyclop ...
, on April 29, 2014, after he had been
taser A taser is an electroshock weapon used to incapacitate people, allowing them to be approached and handled in an unresisting and thus safe manner. It is sold by Axon, formerly TASER International. It fires two small barbed darts intended to ...
ed by staff and attempted to cut himself earlier that day. A paramedic tried twice to put an IV needle into Lockett's left arm but failed. She then tried to insert the needle into his
brachial vein In human anatomy, the brachial veins are venae comitantes of the brachial artery in the arm proper. Because they are deep to muscle, they are considered deep veins. Their course is that of the brachial artery (in reverse): they begin where r ...
in his biceps but also failed. She asked for help from a doctor in attendance, Johnny Zellmer, who tried three times to get the IV into the
jugular vein The jugular veins are veins that take deoxygenated blood from the head back to the heart via the superior vena cava. The internal jugular vein descends next to the internal carotid artery and continues posteriorly to the sternocleidomastoid ...
in Lockett's neck but failed. He then tried the
subclavian vein The subclavian vein is a paired large vein, one on either side of the body, that is responsible for draining blood from the upper extremities, allowing this blood to return to the heart. The left subclavian vein plays a key role in the absorption ...
adjacent to Lockett's collar bone but failed again. The paramedic tried two veins in the left foot but failed. Zellmer then inserted the needle into the
femoral vein In the human body, the femoral vein is a blood vessel that accompanies the femoral artery in the femoral sheath. It begins at the adductor hiatus (an opening in the adductor magnus muscle) as the continuation of the popliteal vein. It ends at th ...
in the groin. The execution began at 6:23p.m. CDT, when the first drug
midazolam Midazolam, sold under the brand name Versed among others, is a benzodiazepine medication used for anesthesia and procedural sedation, and to treat severe agitation. It works by inducing sleepiness, decreasing anxiety, and causing a loss of a ...
(sedative), was administered. After Lockett was declared unconscious at 6:33p.m., the next two drugs,
vecuronium bromide Vecuronium bromide, sold under the brand name Norcuron among others, is a medication used as part of general anesthesia to provide skeletal muscle relaxation during surgery or mechanical ventilation. It is also used to help with endotracheal in ...
(paralytic) and
potassium chloride Potassium chloride (KCl, or potassium salt) is a metal halide salt composed of potassium and chlorine. It is odorless and has a white or colorless vitreous crystal appearance. The solid dissolves readily in water, and its solutions have a salt ...
(to stop the heart beating), were injected. However, at 6:36p.m., three minutes after being declared unconscious, Lockett started to struggle violently and was able to raise his head and speak, saying "Oh, man", "I'm not..." and according to some sources "something's wrong". He attempted to rise from the table at 6:37p.m. and loudly exhaled. A lawyer for Lockett reportedly said, "It looked like torture."
Oklahoma Department of Corrections The Oklahoma Department of Corrections (DOC or ODOC) is an agency of the state of Oklahoma. DOC is responsible for the administration of the state prison system. It has its headquarters in Oklahoma City, across the street from the headquarters o ...
Director Robert Patton said one of the doctors present stopped the execution when it became clear Lockett had a "vein failure". The execution was halted at 6:56p.m. Lockett was declared dead at 7:06p.m. due to a heart attack. A subsequent investigation found that all three drugs had been properly administered to Lockett. However, it was a cloth, which had been placed over Lockett's groin to prevent witnesses from viewing the area, that had stopped staff from spotting that the IV connection in the groin had failed because of the collapsed vein. After an attending doctor stated that Lockett had not received enough of the drugs to cause death and there were not enough of the drugs left to attempt to continue, the execution was halted after 33 minutes. Prison officials reportedly discussed taking Lockett to a hospital before he died of a heart attack. Patton stated "the chemicals did not enter into the offender". The report noted: According to the Department of Corrections, the time for an inmate to be pronounced dead was 6 to 12 minutes in the previous 19 executions before Lockett.


Aftermath

Following Lockett's death, a fourteen-day stay of execution was granted for Charles Frederick Warner, an Oklahoma convict who had been scheduled for execution two hours after Lockett with the same combination of drugs.
Governor of Oklahoma The governor of Oklahoma is the head of government of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Under the Oklahoma Constitution, the governor serves as the head of the Oklahoma Executive (government), executive branch, of the government of Oklahoma. The gove ...
Mary Fallin Mary Fallin (; née Copeland; born December 9, 1954) is an American politician who served as the 27th governor of Oklahoma from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, she was elected in 2010 and reelected in 2014. She was the first and s ...
also requested a review of the execution process involved in Lockett's death. Fallin's intervention led to the execution which possibly violated
separation of powers Separation of powers refers to the division of a state's government into branches, each with separate, independent powers and responsibilities, so that the powers of one branch are not in conflict with those of the other branches. The typic ...
within the state. Warner ultimately was executed on January 15, 2015. Dean Sanderford, Lockett's lawyer, witnessed the execution and expressed concern that "the planned review would not be independent". Sanderford feared "investigation by state employees or agencies would not restore confidence in the execution process". Lawyers representing the next set of prisoners scheduled to be executed called for a moratorium on all executions. Madeline Cohen, an attorney for Warner, condemned the way Lockett was executed, noting that "Clayton Lockett was
torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts c ...
d to death," also denouncing the state's refusal to disclose "basic information" about the drugs for the lethal injection procedures. Democratic state representative,
Joe Dorman Joseph E. Dorman (born September 18, 1970) is an American politician who served in the Oklahoma House of Representatives, representing the 65th electoral district. He is a member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. An Okl ...
called for outside investigation into how Lockett died. He feared the planned review could “lead to suppression of critical evidence in the unlikely event that criminal wrongdoing is uncovered.” A timeline issued by Robert Patton, director of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, revealed that Clayton Lockett was tasered after refusing to be restrained and escorted to a medical room for an X-ray exam as part of the protocol leading up to his execution. During his medical exam officials found a cut on his right arm, but staff determined that sutures were not needed. The timeline also revealed that Lockett refused a food tray twice. Patton also recommended in the letter to governor Mary Fallin that the state conduct a complete review of execution protocols, indefinitely suspend all executions, and investigate the circumstances surrounding the execution. The
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
said the execution "fell short of humane standards". President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
declared the action "deeply disturbing" and ordered
attorney general In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
Eric Holder Eric Himpton Holder Jr. (born January 21, 1951) is an American lawyer who served as the 82nd Attorney General of the United States from 2009 to 2015. Holder, serving in the administration of President Barack Obama, was the first African America ...
to review the policy on executions. Obama cited uneven application of the death penalty in the United States, including
racial bias Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...
(Lockett was African-American) and cases in which murder convictions were later overturned, as grounds for further study of the issue. Media coverage portrayed the execution as "botched", ''
The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...
'' calling it "barbarism" and "inappropriate in a civilized society", noting "the idea of actually spectating while the victim is killed surely clashes with basic humanity." The executive director of the
Death Penalty Information Center The Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) is a non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C., that focuses on disseminating studies and reports related to the death penalty. Founded in 1990, DPIC is primarily focused on the application of ...
, Richard Dieter, said the attempted execution of Lockett was a “torturous action” and might "lead to a halt in executions until states can prove they can do it without problems". He said the death penalty advocates should be “concerned about whether the state knows what it is doing”. The
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, commonly known as the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) or the United Nations Human Rights Office, is a department of the Secretariat of the United Nati ...
suggested that the execution may have been "cruel,
inhuman and degrading treatment Cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment (CIDT) is treatment of persons which is contrary to human rights or dignity, but is not classified as torture. It is forbidden by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 3 of the European Convention ...
" according to
international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...
and may have been
cruel and unusual punishment Cruel and unusual punishment is a phrase in common law describing punishment that is considered unacceptable due to the suffering, pain, or humiliation it inflicts on the person subjected to the sanction. The precise definition varies by jurisd ...
under the
Constitution of the United States The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the natio ...
. The
government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
of the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
issued a statement reiterating its opposition to capital punishment through its embassy in Washington. It said "its use undermines
human dignity Dignity is the right of a person to be valued and respected for their own sake, and to be treated ethically. It is of significance in morality, ethics, law and politics as an extension of the Enlightenment-era concepts of inherent, inalienable ...
, there is no conclusive evidence of its deterrent value, and any
miscarriage of justice A miscarriage of justice occurs when a grossly unfair outcome occurs in a criminal procedure, criminal or civil procedure, civil proceeding, such as the conviction and punishment of a person for a crime they actual innocence, did not commit. Mis ...
leading to its imposition is irreversible and irreparable" and called on the United States to cease its use.
Human rights organization A human rights group, or human rights organization, is a non-governmental organization which advocates for human rights through identification of their violation, collecting incident data, its analysis and publication, promotion of public awareness ...
s also condemned the killing and called on the government to end using it. Ryan Kiesel, the executive director of the
American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...
of Oklahoma, said that by using a “science experiment” to cause Lockett to "die in pain" over the course of more than 40 minutes, the state had “disgraced itself before the nation and world”. US advocacy director of
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...
Antonio Ginatta said "people convicted of crimes should not be test subjects for a state’s grisly experiments" and that the "botched execution was nothing less than state-sanctioned torture". A month after the execution Oklahoma state had not released the official log of the incident.
Oklahoma State University Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...
professor and freedom of information campaigner Joey Senat said, “They’re not complying with the law by this kind of delay.” Lockett's lawyers released the preliminary results of an independent autopsy on Lockett, conducted by forensic pathologist Joseph Cohen and commissioned by Lockett's legal team. It suggested that the execution team failed to ensure the IV had been properly inserted. According to Cohen, the execution team made several attempts to insert IVs into Lockett's arms and groin before inserting an IV in his femoral vein. However, they failed to ensure the IV went in all the way, resulting in the drugs being absorbed into Lockett's muscle. The report also challenged the official claim that Lockett's veins failed, saying that his veins were perfectly healthy.


See also

*
Ángel Nieves Díaz Ángel Nieves Díaz (August 31, 1951 – December 13, 2006) was a Puerto Rican convict and a suspected serial killer who was executed by lethal injection by Florida.
– botched execution in Florida *
Capital punishment in Oklahoma Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The state has executed the second largest number of convicts in the United States (after Texas) since re-legalization following ''Gregg v. Georgia '' in 1976. Oklahoma also has ...
* Crime in Oklahoma *
Doyle Hamm Doyle Lee Hamm (February 14, 1957 – November 28, 2021) was an American death row inmate in Alabama, who was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1987 murder of Patrick Cunningham, whom he killed while committing a robbery. While on death row ...
– botched execution attempt in Alabama *
Execution of John Grant The execution of John Grant (April 12, 1961 – October 28, 2021) took place in the U.S. state of Oklahoma by means of lethal injection. Grant was sentenced to death for the 1998 murder of prison cafeteria worker Gay Carter. Grant's execution fol ...
*
Execution of Jeffrey Landrigan The execution of Jeffrey Timothy Landrigan, who had been convicted of murder in the state of Arizona, was carried out on October 26, 2010 by lethal injection. Landrigan was found guilty of murdering Chester Dean Dyer during an armed burglary. At t ...
* Execution of Dennis McGuire *
Execution of Joseph Wood Joseph Rudolph Wood III was an American convicted murderer executed on July 23, 2014, at Florence State Prison in Arizona, with a two-hour lethal injection procedure that was described as "botched". Wood gasped and snorted for an hour and fift ...
*
List of botched executions A botched execution is defined by political science professor Austin Sarat as: Botched executions occur when there is a breakdown in, or departure from, the 'protocol' for a particular method of execution. The protocol can be established by the no ...
* List of people executed in Oklahoma *
List of people executed in the United States in 2014 This is a list of people executed in the United States in 2014. Thirty-five people were executed in the United States in 2014. Ten of them were in the state of Missouri, and another ten were in the state of Texas. Two ( Edgar Tamayo Arias and Ramir ...


Notes


References


Further reading


Letters written by Clayton LockettArchive
- Government of Oklahoma


External links



Oklahoma Department of Corrections; accessed May 7, 2014.

''The New York Times'', April 30, 2014; accessed May 7, 2014.
"Doctor involved in botched execution 'experimented' on inmate, suit claims"
The Guardian, Tuesday 14 October 2014.
"Documents Reveal 'Bloody Mess' at Botched Oklahoma Execution of Clayton Lockett"
VICE News
10th Circuit Opinion Affirming Dismissal of Family's Claims of Constitutional Violations
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lockett, Clayton 1975 births 2014 deaths 20th-century American criminals 21st-century executions by Oklahoma 21st-century executions of American people Executed African-American people American people convicted of assault American people convicted of burglary American people convicted of kidnapping American people convicted of murder American people convicted of rape American rapists American murderers People executed by Oklahoma by lethal injection People executed for murder People convicted of murder by Oklahoma Political controversies in the United States Place of birth missing 2014 in American law 2014 in Oklahoma Executed people from Oklahoma Deaths by person in Oklahoma April 2014 events in the United States African-American-related controversies 2014 controversies in the United States 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people