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| Clayton Lockett |
A lawyer for the Oklahoma inmate whose execution
went awry last week has expressed scepticism of the state's
official timeline and called for a federal investigation.
David Autry, who represented Clayton Lockett for 11 years and witnessed his execution last Tuesday, said the US Department of Justice should lead an investigation into what went wrong during the execution, which lasted 43 minutes and ended with Lockett's apparent death by heart attack.
Autry expressed doubt about the independence of the man leading the state's investigation, public safety commissioner Michael C Thompson, an appointee of the governor and a former corrections employee.
"I note that [Thompson] was at the execution in his official capacity, making him both witness and judge of not only his own conduct, but his boss the governor's not inconsiderable contribution," Autry said.
The state's
official timeline of Tuesday's events has no mention of Lockett's struggle to move and speak during the execution attempt. There is also no indication of what happened in the 10 minutes between the state calling off the execution and Lockett's death at 7.06pm.
"The fact they omit from their timeline what everyone saw – Mr Lockett's agonised reactions to their botched execution attempt – is a futile effort to minimise the gravity of what occurred and indicates any internal, state investigation is going to be an unconvincing exercise in justifying or excusing their incompetence," Autry said.
"They apparently are incapable of acknowledging the obvious, and that sets the tone for everything else."
Autry added: "The closing of the blinds, resulting in Mr Lockett dying in secrecy among state officials who had failed to competently fulfil their duties, exemplifies the lack of transparency that marked the entire process.”
Source: The Guardian, May 5, 2014
