Oklahoma Inmate Was Tasered Day of Execution

Oklahoma's prison chief today released a timeline regarding the botched execution of Clayton Lockett, and two items are getting much of the attention: In the morning, guards had to Taser Lockett when he refused to be restrained; and in the evening, a technician had so much trouble finding a suitable vein that he had to inject the lethal drugs into Lockett's groin—a development that may have delayed prison officials' realization that something had gone wrong, reports the Guardian. That's because authorities had covered the area with a sheet so witnesses wouldn't see Lockett's groin. It wasn't until about 20 minutes after the injections began that a doctor realized the vein had collapsed and that the drugs "had either absorbed into tissue, leaked out or both."

The execution was then called off, and Lockett was pronounced dead 10 minutes later, though the timeline provides no details on what occurred during those 10 minutes. As for the Tasering, it happened about 5:50am, when Lockett refused to be restrained to have X-rays taken as part of the pre-execution protocol. When he finally arrived in a medical room after being subdued, doctors discovered that he had a self-inflicted cut on his arm, though it wasn't serious enough to merit stitches, reports USA Today. In his report to Gov. Mary Fallin, prison chief Robert Patton recommended an indefinite stay of executions in the state until new procedures can be written and staffers trained. (More Clayton Lockett stories.)