U.S. judge dismisses suit seeking blame in troubled Oklahoma execution
Source: Reuters
US | Thu Jun 25, 2015 11:06am EDT
U.S. judge dismisses suit seeking blame in troubled Oklahoma execution
BY JON HERSKOVITZ
A U.S. federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed on behalf of an Oklahoma death row inmate who died in a flawed execution in a procedure that his lawyers said violated the prisoner's constitutional rights.
The judge in Oklahoma said this week that while there may have been aspects of the April 2014 execution of murderer Clayton Lockett that raised questions of negligence, the process did not violate constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment.
U.S. District Judge Joe Heaton wrote in his opinion that the claimed violations "are not based on standards that were 'clearly established' at the time of his execution."
Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin and the director of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections were among the defendants in the suit.
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http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/25/us-usa-execution-oklahoma-idUSKBN0P520F20150625