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OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The latest on problems the state of Oklahoma has had over executions (all times local):
4:45 p.m.
The Oklahoma Attorney General's Office sent a letter to attorneys for a man on death row two months before his execution saying his lethal injection would include potassium chloride but then prison officials put him to death with a different drug, according to new correspondence released Thursday.
The state told attorneys for Warner in a Nov. 26, 2014, letter that the state would use midazolam, rocuronium bromide and potassium chloride in his lethal injection. But according to an autopsy report, Warner was given potassium acetate instead as the third drug in the series.
Dale Baich, an attorney representing death row inmates in a lawsuit challenging the lethal injection protocol, released a copy of the letter Thursday.
Oklahoma Department of Corrections Director Robert Patton declined to comment Thursday on the new development, citing an ongoing investigation by the Oklahoma attorney general's office. Attorney General Scott Pruitt promised a "full, fair and complete" investigation regarding the drugs.
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12 p.m.
An attorney representing several Oklahoma death row inmates says the state cannot be trusted to tell the truth about its executions.
Dale Baich is representing inmates who are challenging Oklahoma's lethal injection protocols. On Thursday, The Oklahoman newspaper reported that the state used a drug not included in its protocols — potassium acetate — when it executed inmate Charles Warner in January.
Baich says the execution logs from Warner's execution initialed by a prison staff member indicate the state used potassium chloride. An autopsy report noted that the state used 12 vials of potassium acetate instead, the newspaper reported.
Baich says attorneys will explore the issue in its ongoing federal lawsuit.
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11:40 a.m.
Oklahoma's governor says no executions will take place in the state until she has "complete confidence" in the system.
Gov. Mary Fallin made the comments Thursday after The Oklahoman newspaper reported that prison officials used the wrong drug when the state executed inmate Charles Warner in January. The governor said she wasn't informed that potassium acetate may have been used until last week, when she halted another execution because potassium acetate was delivered instead of potassium chloride.
Fallin says the doctor and pharmacist working with the corrections department said the two drugs are "medically interchangeable." Death penalty experts said last week that potassium acetate had never been used in a U.S. execution before.
Fallin says the state attorney general's office is conducting an inquiry into the Warner execution and that she's "fully supportive" of the investigation.
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7:20 a.m.
An autopsy shows that Oklahoma used the wrong drug when it executed an inmate in January.
The Oklahoman (http://bit.ly/1ZfYhW2 ) reported Thursday that corrections officials used potassium acetate — not potassium chloride, as required under the state's protocol — to execute Charles Frederick Warner.
Last week, Gov. Mary Fallin issued a last-minute stay of execution for inmate Richard Glossip after officials discovered that potassium acetate had been delivered.
The autopsy says the items used in Warner's execution included 12 empty vials labeled "single dose Potassium Acetate Injection."
Potassium chloride, which stops the heart, is the final drug in the state's protocol.
After receiving the first drug in the series, midazolam, Warner said, "My body is on fire," but showed no other signs of distress and was pronounced dead after 18 minutes.
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