OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Lawyers for two Oklahoma death-row inmates who are suing for information about lethal injection drugs and lawyers for the state each have asked for the judge to rule in their favor without hearing arguments in court.
The state filed for summary judgment in Oklahoma County District Court on Thursday and responded to a motion for summary judgment filed last week by lawyers for inmates Clayton Lockett and Charles Warner.
A hearing in district court is set for Wednesday in front of Judge Patricia Parrish on whether it’s proper for the state to keep execution procedures behind a “veil of secrecy.”
The state pointed out, among other things, in its filing that the inmates had never requested information about the drugs before the lawsuit was filed and that Oklahoma’s execution protocols have previously been found to be constitutional.
“Just as law enforcement entities protect their undercover agents, Defendants have a legitimate interest in maintaining the non-disclosure of certain information,” the state wrote in its filing.
In their lawsuit, inmates Clayton Lockett and Charles Warner said they feared the drugs could be contaminated and cause them undue harm, in violation of a constitutional guarantee against cruel or unusual punishment.
The inmates had asked for a stay of their executions pending the outcome of their lawsuit, but the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals has ruled that the request was moot because the state doesn’t have enough drugs to carry out an execution.
Lockett’s execution was rescheduled for April 22 and Warner’s for April 29.
Lockett was found guilty in the 1999 shooting death of a 19-year-old Perry woman. Warner was set to be executed on March 27 for the 1997 rape and murder of his girlfriend’s 11-month-old daughter.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.