Plenty of Blame in Lethal Injection Drug Mix-Up

On September 30, the scheduled execution of death row inmate Richard Glossip was suddenly called off when a doctor realized that one of the drugs to beused in the lethal injection cocktail was the wrong drug. Instead of potassium chloride, the drug stipulated by state law as the drug to be used tostop the inmate's heart, a pharmacist supplied potassium acetate.

And Glossip's halted execution led to a review that indicated that potassium acetate, not potassium chloride, was wrongfully used in the execution of CharlesFrederick Warner in 2015. You may remember that Warner was one of several death row inmates who were plaintiffs in a lethal injection lawsuit overthe secrecy of compounding pharmacies supplying the drugs and over the use of midazolam, a sedative given prior to the injection of drugs used to paralyzethe inmate and stop his or her heart.

Recently, a grand jury released a 106-page report detailing the errors that led to the lethal injection drug mix-up and finding plenty of blame to go around.

The report cites "inexcusable failures" by a number of individualsand by DOC policies that led to the use of the wrong drug in Warner's execution and the eleventh-hour delay of Glossip's scheduled execution. Accordingto the grand jury, the mix-up was caused in part by each of the following:

• the Director of the Department of Corrections ("Director") orally modified the execution protocol without authority;
• the Pharmacist ordered the wrong execution drugs;
• the Department's General Counsel failed to inventory the execution drugs as mandated by state purchasing requirements;
• an agent with the Department's Office of Inspector General ("OIG Agent 1") failed to inspect the execution drugs while transporting them into theOklahoma State Penitentiary;
• Warden A failed to notify anyone in the Department that potassium acetate had been received;
• the H Unit Section Chief failed to observe the Department had received the wrong execution drugs;
• the IV Team failed to observe the Department had received the wrong execution drugs
• the Department's Execution Protocol failed to define important terms, and lacked controls to ensure the proper execution drugs were obtained andadministered;
• and the Governor's General Counsel advocated the Department proceed with the Glossip execution using potassium acetate.
  

By continuing to push for the death penalty at all costs, Oklahoma is making a joke of itself. One article about the issue is called, "Oklahoma's Insane Rush to Execute." MarcHyden, national coordinator for Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty, told the Washington Post:

"Oklahomans should carefully consider the grand jury�s conclusions and ask themselves whether they should trust their state with the death penalty.Considering the state�s history of botched executions and wrongful convictions, Oklahoma�s track record suggests that it hasn�t adequately earnedthe people�s trust."

Oklahoma County District Judge Don Deason called the slipshod policies and actions at the DOC "monkey business"and said Oklahomans are "sick and tired" of being a national laughingstock when it comes to the death penalty.