Same Drugs Used In Controversial Oklahoma, Arizona Executions

An Arizona execution that took two hours is renewing the lethal injection debate in Oklahoma. Our state uses the same drugs that were used during the execution of a condemned murderer in Arizona Wednesday night.

Now lawyers who represent death row inmates in Oklahoma are speaking out.

It's been three months since Oklahoma death row inmate Clayton Lockett's botched execution. Since then, 21 death row inmates have filed lawsuits against the state to avoid problems with executions.

?4/30/2014 Related Story: Oklahoma's Controversial Execution Draws National Attention; Murder Victim Not Forgotten?

They say what happened in Arizona Wednesday night is proof the three-drug method is cruel and unusual punishment.

Lockett's vein exploded and a witness reported he had a painful 43 minute death, in April. Three months later, witnesses say it took Arizona inmate Joseph Wood two hours to die.

7/23/2014 Related Story: Arizona Execution Takes Two Hours To Finish

Jeanne Brown watched the man who killed her family gasp and snort for more than an hour.

"Everybody’s more worried about, did he suffer? Who really suffered was my dad and my sister when they were killed," Brown said.

The same drugs were used in both Lockett and Wood's executions.

Joe Robertson with the Oklahoma Indigent Defense System said Wednesday's execution in Arizona is proof Oklahoma's death row inmates, who are suing the state, should have their executions stayed.

"Whenever you’re using unknown drugs the efficacy of which is unknown, to see if it killed someone and how long it takes, how well it does, you are experimenting, and that's not appropriate. That is not constitutional to do that,” Robertson said.

Governor Fallin asked the state to review its protocols. Her spokesperson said:

"That review should certainly include lessons learned from what other states are doing right, as well as events that have gone wrong in other states, to ensure those incidents are not repeated in Oklahoma."

"They agree with me, they are experimenting. That’s another way of saying we’re experimenting” Robertson said.

The state is scheduled to execute two men this fall. 21 of the 51 convicted killers on Oklahoma's death row are suing the state.

Robertson said, “Whenever you look at from the standpoint of what they did, you can justify in your mind their execution by any means you want, but there has to be some difference between society and the worst among us."

When the inmates filed the lawsuit in June, Attorney General Scott Pruitt said their concerns were unfounded. He was in Tulsa Thursday, but refused to comment.