Entries tagged with “Midazolam”
Executions
Jun 09, 2022
Federal Judge Upholds Oklahoma Lethal-Injection Protocol, Rejecting Prisoners’ Evidence of Torturous Executions
Judge Stephen Friot (pictured) of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma has ruled that Oklahoma’s lethal-injection protocol is constitutional. After holding a week-long hearing on the state’s three-drug protocol in February and March 2022, Judge Friot credited the testimony of state experts over the prisoners’ expert testimony on the likelihood that the protocol would result in severe pain. While attorneys for the 28 prisoners who brought the suit can appeal the ruling…
Executions
Jun 01, 2022
Autopsies Show Excess Fluid in Lungs of All Four Prisoners Put to Death in Oklahoma Execution Spree
Autopsies of the four men executed by Oklahoma between October 2021 and February 2022 show that all four prisoners had excess fluid in their lungs, giving additional credence to death-row prisoners’ claims that Oklahoma’s lethal-injection process will subject them to an unconstitutionally torturous death. The autopsy report for Gilbert Postelle, obtained by Oklahoma Watch through a public records request and published May 25, 2022, found that Postelle experienced pulmonary edema with “frothy…
Executions
Mar 10, 2022
Evidence of ‘Torturous’ Fluid in the Lungs, Drug Mislabeling Highlight Federal Trial on Constitutionality of Oklahoma Lethal-Injection Protocol
A six-day federal trial on the constitutionality of Oklahoma’s lethal-injection protocol has concluded, with medical experts for the state’s death-row prisoners citing autopsy and eyewitness evidence to call the process “torturous” and doctors for the state denying that prisoners suffered as they were being put to death. The evidentiary portion of the trial began with medical testimony for the prisoners on February 28, 2022 and concluded with closing arguments from the two sides on March 7.