Lethal drugs available

State officials including Gov. Kevin Stitt, Attorney General Mike Hunter and Department of Corrections (DOC) Director Scott Crow said they have found a reliable supply of drugs to resume executions by lethal injection.

The state will use an updated version of the previous protocol that includes recommendations by the 2016 multicounty grand jury. The three drugs that will continue to be used are: midazolam, vecuronium bromide and potassium chloride.

Additionally, the Attorney General’s Office is going to request execution dates for inmates who have exhausted their appeals after 150 days.

“It is important that the state is implementing our death penalty law with a procedure that is humane and swift for those convicted of the most heinous of crimes,” Stitt said. “Director Crow and Attorney General Mike Hunter have worked diligently and thoroughly to create a path forward to resume the death penalty in Oklahoma, and the time has come to deliver accountability and justice to the victims who have suffered unthinkable loss and pain.”

Although the state previously announced the move to nitrogen hypoxia as the preferred method of execution, the 2015 law allowing the state to develop a method for nitrogen hypoxia specifically states death sentences shall be carried out by nitrogen hypoxia only if the drugs for lethal injections are unavailable.

“My commitment to Oklahomans who remain tormented by the loss of their loved ones has been that we would go any route necessary to resume executions as expeditiously as possible within the rule of law,” Hunter said. “They have endured enough through the decades of waiting on the lengthy appeals process and the state’s attempts to get the protocol right. I appreciate Director Crow and his team for their tireless search to acquire the drugs from a reliable source. Because of these efforts, we can finally tell the victims their wait for justice is nearly over.”

The updated protocol includes several of the recommendations by the 2016 multicounty grand jury, including a verification of execution drugs at every step in the process, more training for the execution teams, among others.

Also, consistent with the multicounty grand jury recommendations, the DOC continues to work on a protocol that will allow the state to proceed by execution through nitrogen hypoxia when appropriate.

“Under this enhanced protocol, Oklahoma Department of Corrections stands ready to resume executions recommended by a jury of peers, sentenced by an impartial judge, and mandated by law,” Crow said. “I thank Governor Stitt and Attorney General Hunter for their leadership, which helped create this improved process. Additionally, I am deeply grateful for the patience of victims’ families and loved ones as we worked to ensure Oklahoma’s executions resume and are carried out in a meticulous manner.”

Some Catholic officials protested the announcement and voiced their view that there should be no death penalty in Oklahoma.

The Catholic Conference of Oklahoma supports Rep. Jason Dunnington’s House Bill 2876 which proposes to repeal the death penalty.

Most Rev. Paul S. Coakley, Archbishop of Oklahoma City, said, “We need to stop spending taxpayer money to kill human beings. We deserve justice for these heinous crimes, but we don’t end the cycle of violence by committing more violence. In all of these cases, we lost a life, and the death penalty only serves to further devalue human dignity. We have the capability now to punish criminals and protect society without killing in return. I call on our legislators and Gov. Stitt to make a change for Oklahoma and choose non-lethal ways to ensure justice.”

Coakley said a recent survey of Oklahoma voters showed that when presented with a choice between the death penalty and a life sentence for those convicted of murder, a majority of voters opposed the death penalty.