News

Oklahoma Department of Corrections Sued for Lethal Injection Drug Records in Light of Botched Executions

By November 9, 2021 January 28th, 2022 No Comments

A lawsuit filed in Oklahoma County District Court challenges the Oklahoma DOC’s refusal to disclose critical information about the substances used in the state’s lethal injection executions.

The plaintiff, Fred Hodara, sent several written requests to the agency under the Oklahoma Open Records Act, seeking documents related to the state’s lethal injection executions, including the identities and quantities of the drugs used to execute prisoners, inventory logs, and documents related to quality testing and expiration dates of the substances. In his lawsuit, he claims the DOC violated the Act when it said it does not have any such documents.

Hours before the botched execution of John Grant in October 2021, the state again refused to produce any documents shedding light on the drugs used. Hodara’s attorney, Brette Peña, said, “Mr. Grant was executed and the execution was botched, which just further underscores the need for transparency around Oklahoma’s lethal injection practices.”

Mr. Grant’s execution ended a six-year moratorium on capital punishment in Oklahoma while the state reviewed its problematic history of botched lethal injection executions.

“We need to know what it is that the state is doing in its administrative process that’s causing these repeated gruesome deaths,” said Hodara.