The Latest: Oklahoma seeks to delay 3 executions amid probe

The latest on the confusion over Oklahoma’s supply of lethal injection drugs, which prompted Gov. Mary Fallin to issue a last-minute execution stay for Richard Glossip (all times local):

2:15 p.m.

Oklahoma’s attorney general says the state should delay all scheduled executions while it reviews how it received the wrong drug as it prepared to lethally inject an inmate.

Attorney General Scott Pruitt filed paperwork Thursday asking the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals to halt next Wednesday’s execution of Benjamin Cole, plus the executions of John Marion Grant and Richard Glossip over the next month.

Glossip was set to die Wednesday, but Gov. Mary Fallin halted the execution after the Department of Corrections said it had received a shipment of potassium acetate, rather than the potassium chloride listed in the state’s protocols.

Pruitt said his office needs time to determine what went wrong Wednesday and whether the state’s execution guidelines should be reviewed again.

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10:55 a.m.

A spokesman for Oklahoma’s governor says she could issue a temporary stay of the lethal injection of two inmates scheduled for this month, after a drug mix-up by prison officials forced her to delay an execution that was supposed to take place this week.

Alex Weintz said Thursday that Gov. Mary Fallin hasn’t yet issued a stay for the scheduled executions of Benjamin Cole on Oct. 7 and John Grant on Oct. 28.

Weintz admitted those executions might not go forward given that the Department of Corrections received potassium acetate instead of potassium chloride for Richard Gossip’s execution, which had been scheduled for Wednesday.

Potassium acetate is not an authorized drug in Oklahoma’s execution protocols.

Fallin has delayed Glossip’s execution until Nov. 6. She can issue execution stays for up to 60 days.

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6:55 a.m.

The Oklahoma Board of Corrections is set to meet one day after Gov. Mary Fallin issued a last-minute execution stay because the Department of Corrections did not have the correct lethal injection drugs.

The board will meet at 1 p.m. Thursday in McAlester. Department Director Robert Patton has been tight-lipped on why officials had potassium acetate instead of potassium chloride for Richard Glossip’s execution, which had been scheduled for Wednesday.

Fallin granted a 37-day stay for Glossip so the state can determine whether potassium acetate can be used or if potassium chloride is available.

Fallin’s office says the corrections department received the drugs Wednesday.

A court filing says the state told Glossip’s attorneys it had “sufficient drugs” to carry out three upcoming executions. An Aug. 11 letter from Assistant Attorney General John Hadden didn’t say whether the department physically possessed the drugs at the time.

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