Report says Oklahoma has highest per capita execution rate in nation

<br>(Oklahoma City-AP) -- The human rights group Amnesty International was in Oklahoma City Thursday, calling on state lawmakers to place a moratorium on the death penalty. <br><br>The London-based organization

Thursday, April 26th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

(Oklahoma City-AP) -- The human rights group Amnesty International was in Oklahoma City Thursday, calling on state lawmakers to place a moratorium on the death penalty.

The London-based organization issued a report saying Oklahoma has the highest per capita rate of executions in the nation. Amnesty International researcher Rob Freer says the group wants the state to abolish capital punishment.

State Representative Opio Toure and the Oklahoma Criminal Defense Lawyers Association are joining the call for a moratorium. Toure says he's concerned the state is sending innocent people to death row because of testimony from an Oklahoma City Police Department chemist.

Federal authorities are investigating whether defendants were sentenced to die because the chemist wrongly linked them to crime scenes.