An Oklahoma court has delayed the execution of a man who went to the Supreme Court to challenge one of the drugs used in lethal injection.
The stay of execution for Richard Glossip, convicted of murder in 2004, is for two weeks. That gives the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals time to consider new evidence in the case, according to the court’s order filed Wednesday.
Glossip was expected to be executed Wednesday night.
The order comes several months after the Supreme Court rejected Glossip’s and other inmates’ appeal that a new drug used in the injections was cruel and unusual punishment. The inmates argued that using midalozam as a sedative is cruel since it fails to relieve pain and increases suffering.
The lawsuit centered on the execution of Clayton Lockett, who died 45 minutes after receiving the drug cocktail and was witnessed writhing in pain.
The justices voted 5-4 that midalozam could be used.
States have had trouble finding execution drugs that include the normal anesthetic of sodium thiopental. Manufacturers have largely stopped providing the drugs, and now compounding pharmacists who make custom prescriptions are also largely stopping.
