An intersting and concerning story out of Oklahoma raises the question of when, if ever, an inmates family may sue the state for a botched execution. The back story is this. Clayton Lockett was a bad guy. He was convicted of horrrifc crimes and sentanced to death by lethal injection. On the eve of his execution, Oklahoma prison guards Tasered a defiant Clayton Lockett early Tuesday, and medical personnel had trouble finding a suitable vein for the lethal drugs that eventually killed him that evening, the head of the Corrections Department reported Thursday.
Lockett also deliberately cut his right arm before dawn Tuesday and was treated at a prison hospital, but the wound did not require stitches.
About 12 hours later, as they prepared Lockett for execution, medical personnel could not find a usable vein in his arms, legs, feet or neck, finally inserting the needle in his groin.
Corrections Department Director Robert Patton made the disclosures in a timeline provided to Gov. Mary Fallin, who ordered a review of the murderer's botched execution. Lockett writhed and convulsed as the three-drug cocktail was being administered, and he ultimately died of a heart attack 43 minutes later.
Patton also recommended that the execution of Charles Warner, who was to have died two hours after Lockett, be postponed indefinitely.
So what happens now? Clearly the Oklahoma execution process will be reviewed as will the circumstances of the execution Lockett. But will the botched execution lead to a lawsuit? In some states such a lawsuit is prohibited by law. In others there is no such prohibition. Certainly the circumstance of this situation merits the filing of an injury lawsuit. Irrespective of the crimes committed, Lockett was grossly mistreated and sufferred immensly. It is the job of a qualified injury lawyuer to push the boundaries of the law when the situation merits. A capable injury lawyer will investigate the matter and craft a lawsuit calling into questions the execution practices used by the State of Oklahoma. I will be watching the state legal news for a development on this case and keep our readers posted.
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