OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma death row inmates who have sued to block their executions under existing lethal injection protocols want a federal judge to allow their lawsuit to move forward.
Attorneys for the inmates filed paperwork in federal court Wednesday opposing the state's request to put the lawsuit on hold.
The Oklahoma Attorney General's Office has asked that the case be stayed, arguing that drugs and procedures used to execute a death row inmate in a botched lethal injection in April do not risk violating the constitutional rights of other death row inmates.
The lawsuit was filed after the April 29 execution of Clayton Lockett, who writhed on the gurney before he was pronounced dead about 43 minutes after the execution began. Lockett's execution is the focus of an ongoing investigation.