Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Bulletin: (Editorial); Richard Glossip: Oklahoma; Extraordinary development; From despair to a measure of relief. (Until Nov. 6, anyway. HL); KFOR reports that Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin has issued a stay of execution following an alleged drug mix-up "just minutes away from death." New York Times: “Last minute questions were raised today about Oklahoma’s execution protocol and the chemicals used for lethal injection,” Ms. Fallin said. “After consulting with the attorney general and the Department of Corrections, I have issued a 37-day stay of execution while the state addresses those questions and ensures it is complying fully with the protocols approved by federal courts.” A new execution date was set for Nov. 6."


PUBLISHER'S VIEW (Editorial): "How indecent, cruel and brutal that a human being - let alone one like Richard Glossip  who is seeking the opportunity to produce evidence which will prove he is innocent - should be put  through the fear and horror of imminent death by the state through a drug suspected of causing unbearable pain- almost looking into death's eyes - after all legal recourse has been denied, only to be pulled away, and told he will face his executioner once again in 37 days.  Cruel. Inhumane. Obscene. Like the death penalty.

Harold Levy; Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog;

"An Oklahoma inmate was just minutes away from death when Gov. Mary Fallin stepped in to bring his execution to a halt. Richard Glossip was scheduled to be put to death at 3 p.m. on Wednesday for the murder of Barry Van Treese. Glossip was convicted of Van Treese’s murder, though Glossip was not the one who took his life. The man who bludgeoned Van Treese to death, Justin Sneed, testified that Glossip hired him for the murder.........The case was surrounded by controversy for an alleged lack of evidence for being based on the word of an admitted murderer."
 http://kfor.com/2015/09/30/gov-mary-fallin-issues-stay-of-execution-for-richard-glossip/

More particulars: New York Times: "Mr. Glossip, 52, was one of three condemned inmates who argued that Oklahoma’s three-drug combination risked causing unconstitutional pain and suffering, after one of the drugs — midazolam, a short-acting sedative — had a role in three apparently painful executions last year. In June, the Supreme Court upheld the state’s drug protocol and ruled against the inmates. Midazolam was one of the three drugs that was set to be injected into Mr. Glossip Wednesday afternoon at a state prison in McAlester. But more than an hour after the scheduled execution time, Gov. Mary Fallin of Oklahoma intervened, issuing a stay to address questions about the state’s execution protocols. Ms. Fallin said the stay will allow the Department of Corrections and its lawyers to determine whether potassium acetate — one of the three drugs the state planned on using — complied with the state’s court-approved protocols. “Last minute questions were raised today about Oklahoma’s execution protocol and the chemicals used for lethal injection,” Ms. Fallin said. “After consulting with the attorney general and the Department of Corrections, I have issued a 37-day stay of execution while the state addresses those questions and ensures it is complying fully with the protocols approved by federal courts.” A new execution date was set for Nov. 6.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/01/us/oklahoma-execution-richard-glossip.html