The Supreme Court of the United States authorized, Thursday, October 28, Oklahoma to resume executions, after a six-year hiatus, and to inject a lethal cocktail, suspected of causing excruciating suffering to condemned.
After receiving the green light, the prison authorities in this conservative southern state injected three substances into John Grant, a 60-year-old African-American, sentenced in 2000 to death for the murder of a prison employee.
His death was pronounced at 4:21 p.m. (11:21 p.m. KST) but the death row inmate was shaken by vomiting and convulsions during his execution. This protocol had already been applied in 2014 and 2015, but the apparent suffering of the detainees had led the state to declare a moratorium on executions.
John Grant “Began to convulse shortly after the injection of the first product” said AP reporter Sean Murphy, who witnessed the scene. According to him, he convulsed about 20 times and vomited several times before dying. “I witnessed fourteen executions, I had never seen that before”, added the journalist.
“Serious questions” on the conformity of the product
His ordeal immediately aroused strong criticism. “Oklahoma had sabotaged its last three execution attempts before his six-year hiatus, but apparently learned nothing from that experience.”, commented to Agence France-Presse (AFP) Robert Dunham, who heads the Information Center on the Death Penalty (DPIC).
A few days ago, the Oklahoma prison services had nevertheless estimated in a statement that their protocol was “Human and efficient” and that the executions could resume.
The lawyer for several convicts, Dale Baich, however, considered that there remained “Serious questions” on the pain caused by this lethal cocktail and on its compliance with the American Constitution which prohibits “Cruel and unusual punishments”.
“A trial on this precise point is due to start in February and the executions should not resume before”, he had argued.
Wednesday an appeal court had ruled in his favor and suspended the execution. But the authorities in Oklahoma immediately seized the Supreme Court of the United States to ask it to reverse this decision. Without explaining its reasons, the high court finally gave the green light to execution in extremis. Its three progressive judges, however, made it clear that they disagreed with the Conservative majority.
Another execution scheduled for November
The contested protocol combines a sedative, midazolam, and an anesthetic, believed to prevent pain before the lethal-dose potassium chloride injection. It had been used in 2014 to execute Clayton Lockett, but the convict had agonized for 43 minutes in apparent pain.
In 2015, another convict, Charles Warner, complained that his “Body was burning” before being extinguished, the executioners having used a non-conforming product. The same error was almost reproduced in September 2015 and an execution was postponed at the last minute.
Following these failures, a grand jury opened an investigation and the authorities agreed to suspend the application of the death penalty. In 2020, they finalized a new protocol and set several execution dates in 2021, starting with that of John Grant, who in 1998 killed a woman who worked in the prison cafeteria where he was serving a sentence for an armed robbery.
Oklahoma also plans to execute on November 18 Julius Jones, a 41-year-old African-American, sentenced in 2002 to death for the murder of a white businessman whom he has always denied. His case was the subject of a documentary series, a podcast and he is supported by many associations and personalities like Kim Kardashian, convinced of his innocence.
He lost all legal remedies, but the Oklahoma Pardons Office recommended that his sentence be commuted to life imprisonment. The governor has not yet decided.