A report by The Oklahoman has revealed that Oklahoma vio­lat­ed its exe­cu­tion pro­to­col and used the wrong final drug dur­ing the exe­cu­tion of Charles Warner on January 15, 2015. Warner, whose final words were ​“My body is on fire,” was exe­cut­ed using potas­si­um acetate, the same drug that was deliv­ered for Richard Glossip’s abort­ed exe­cu­tion on September 30. The drug called for in the pro­to­col is potas­si­um chlo­ride. Glossip’s exe­cu­tion was stayed as a result of the mix-up, and Attorney General Scott Pruitt request­ed an indef­i­nite hold on exe­cu­tions so his office could inves­ti­gate. ​“I want to assure the pub­lic that our inves­ti­ga­tion will be full, fair and com­plete and includes not only actions on Sept. 30, but any and all actions pri­or, rel­e­vant to the use of potas­si­um acetate and potas­si­um chlo­ride,” Pruitt said. Dale Baich, who rep­re­sent­ed Oklahoma death row inmates in Glossip v. Gross, said, ​“We can­not trust Oklahoma to get it right or to tell the truth. The State’s dis­clo­sure that it used potas­si­um acetate instead of potas­si­um chlo­ride dur­ing the exe­cu­tion of Charles Warner yet again rais­es seri­ous ques­tions about the abil­i­ty of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections to car­ry out executions.”

Warner’s exe­cu­tion had orig­i­nal­ly been sched­uled for April 29, 2014, the same day as the exe­cu­tion of Clayton Lockett, but it was stayed after Lockett’s exe­cu­tion was botched.

(N. Clay and R. Green, ​“Wrong drug used for January exe­cu­tion, state records show,” The Oklahoman, October 8, 2015.) See Lethal Injection.

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