Oklahoma delays all executions for 6 months

(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

last updated 8 January 2015

Following the massively controversial botched execution of Clayton Lockett last month, Oklahoma's top appeals court said Thursday it would halt all executions for the next six months so the state can conduct an investigation. After a deeply flawed legal and political battle over the transparency of the lethal cocktail that would be used to kill Lockett, the convicted murderer and rapist was put to death. But the drug did not work effectively, resulting in a gruesome 40-minute ordeal that has made Oklahoma a target of national criticism.

Charles Warner, who was originally set to be executed the same night as Lockett, will now be put to death on Nov. 13.

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Jordan Valinsky is the lead writer for Speed Reads. Before joining The Week, he wrote for New York Observer's tech blog, Betabeat, and tracked the intersection between popular culture and the internet for The Daily Dot. He graduated with a degree in online journalism from Ohio University.