Earlier this week, Oklahoma botched the execution of death row inmate Clayton Lockett, resulting in a gruesome 40-minute ordeal that has revived the debate over the morality of capital punishment. Now it turns out that his execution was even more problematic than initially thought, according to a new timeline of the events:
At the beginning, the only thing that was different was that the execution was late. At 6:23 p.m., 23 minutes after the execution had been scheduled to begin, the beige blinds lifted up and the witnesses in the next two rooms could see Lockett on the gurney. They didn't know — because they couldn't know — that the execution was delayed because a technician couldn't find a place to insert the IV, according to Robert Patton, director of the Department of Corrections. That technician looked at Lockett's arms, legs, feet, and neck before ultimately placing the IV in Lockett's groin area five minutes before the blinds were lifted, Patton wrote in a timeline sent to the governor. The area with the IV was covered by a sheet so that witnesses couldn't see his groin, blocking their view of the vein where the needle was inserted. [Washington Post]
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
The mental health crisis affecting vetsUnder The Radar Death of Hampshire vet highlights mental health issues plaguing the industry
-
The Onion is having a very ironic laugh with InfowarsThe Explainer The satirical newspaper is purchasing the controversial website out of bankruptcy
-
'Rahmbo, back from Japan, will be looking for a job? Really?'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Judge blocks Louisiana 10 Commandments lawSpeed Read U.S. District Judge John deGravelles ruled that a law ordering schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms was unconstitutional
-
ATF finalizes rule to close 'gun show loophole'Speed Read Biden moves to expand background checks for gun buyers
-
Hong Kong passes tough new security lawSpeed Read It will allow the government to further suppress all forms of dissent
-
France enshrines abortion rights in constitutionspeed read It became the first country to make abortion a constitutional right
-
Texas executes man despite contested evidenceSpeed Read Texas rejected calls for a rehearing of Ivan Cantu's case amid recanted testimony and allegations of suppressed exculpatory evidence
-
Supreme Court wary of state social media regulationsSpeed Read A majority of justices appeared skeptical that Texas and Florida were lawfully protecting the free speech rights of users
-
Greece legalizes same-sex marriageSpeed Read Greece becomes the first Orthodox Christian country to enshrine marriage equality in law
-
Trump and his lawyer Alina Habba have a rough day in defamation courtSpeed Read Trump's audible grousing as E. Jean Carroll testified earned him a warning he could be thrown out of court, and Habba showed she 'doesn't know what the hell she's doing'
