Oklahoma Execution Schedule Dates Move Indefinitely

The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals approved a request from Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to postpone indefinitely the state’s three scheduled execution dates due to drug error. The state received potassium acetate instead of potassium chloride.

Benjamin Robert Cole was scheduled to be executed next Wednesday for the 2002 murder of his 9-month-old daughter, Brianna Cole.

John Marion Grant was set to die October 28 for the 1998 stabbing death of a kitchen worker at Dick Conner Correctional Center, where he was serving a sentence for armed robbery.

Richard Eugene Glossip’s execution was postponed to Nov. 6 after he received a fourth stay on Wednesday. Glossip is set to die for orchestrating the 1997 murder of Barry Alan Van Treese in Oklahoma City.

The court also ordered the state to keep the judges updated once a month on each case.

Read the press release below:

Governor Mary Fallin has issued a 37 day stay of Richard Glossip’s execution to address legal questions raised today about Oklahoma’s execution protocols. The stay will give the Department of Corrections and its attorneys the opportunity to determine whether potassium acetate is compliant with the state’s court-approved execution procedures.

“Last minute questions were raised today about Oklahoma’s execution protocol and the chemicals used for lethal injection,” said Fallin. “After consulting with the attorney general and the Department of Corrections, I have issued a 37 day stay of execution while the state addresses those questions and ensures it is complying fully with the protocols approved by federal courts.”

The new execution date will be Friday, November 6.

“My sincerest sympathies go out to the Van Treese family, who has waited so long to see justice done,” said Fallin.

The executive order is available here.