"2 Oklahoma death row inmates seek stay for appeal," is by Bailey Elise McBride of Associated Press. It's via the San Francisco Chronicle.
Lawyers for two Oklahoma death row inmates on Tuesday asked the Oklahoma Supreme Court for a stay of execution while their lawsuit makes its way through state court.
Attorneys for Clayton Lockett and Charles Warner simultaneously filed an appeal and an emergency application for a stay of execution to the state's highest court, writing the inmates "will suffer irreparable harm" if a stay is not granted. Oklahoma County District Judge Patricia Parrish on Monday denied their request to halt the executions that are scheduled for later this month.
Parrish denied the request on grounds that the case was not under her jurisdiction. Lockett and Warner sued the Oklahoma Department of Corrections last month, challenging a law that bars disclosure of the state's execution procedures.
The Oklahoman reports, "Death row inmates ask Oklahoma Supreme Court for a stay of execution," by Graham Lee Brewer.
The men are not appealing their sentences, but are asking for a delay in their executions until their case is adjudicated. Clayton Derrell Locket, 38, is scheduled for execution March 20, and Charles Frederick Warner, 46, is scheduled for execution March 27.
Lockett and Warner are challenging the constitutionality of the state law allowing the state Corrections Department to shield its source of pentobarbital, a barbiturate used in Oklahoma’s lethal injection process, and whether or not a change allowing the use of pentobarbital was a violation of the Oklahoma Administrative Procedures Act.
Monday, Oklahoma County District Court Judge Patricia Parrish agreed with an objection filed by the state attorney general’s office which asserts since the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals set the execution dates and denied previous appeals by the men, the appeals court is the proper venue to hear the case.
Earlier coverage of the Oklahoma LI drug challenge begins at the link.
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