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Execution Report Leaves Unanswered Questions

State of Oklahoma-File Photo

The state's report on Clayton Lockett's execution hasn't answered all the questions people have about it.

Brady Henderson is the legal director of ACLU of Oklahoma. He said the Department of Corrections can use the report to improve the process, but the state’s drug protocol is still untested in a sense.

"Frankly, too many things went wrong with the execution to know that, and so I think that we're really back about where we were now with this next execution, again, experimenting with what is — is for all intents and purposes — a new cocktail of drugs," Henderson said. 

The report detailed problems with Lockett’s IV. That may have affected how a new sedative worked.

After the report on Lockett’s execution was released, Gov. Mary Fallin said there will be no more executions in the state until its recommendations are implemented.

There is, however, one scheduled for Nov. 13, but Henderson said maybe the governor has a different mindset.

"We can at least hope that if we're not ready by November that — I think it's two executions now set within the month of November, if I remember right — that those will be postponed as needed," Henderson said.

Charles Warner was set to be executed after Lockett on April 29. Warner’s execution was postponed in light of the problems with Lockett’s.

Matt Trotter joined KWGS as a reporter in 2013. Before coming to Public Radio Tulsa, he was the investigative producer at KJRH. His freelance work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times and on MSNBC and CNN.