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Arkansas Supreme Court Decision Allows New DNA Testing in Case of the ​“West Memphis Three,” Convicted of Killing Three Children in 1993

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On April 18, 2024, the Arkansas Supreme Court decided 4-3 to reverse a 2022 lower court decision and allow genetic testing of crime scene evidence from the 1993 killing of three eight-year-old boys in West Memphis. The three men convicted in 1994 for the killings were released in 2011 after taking an Alford plea, in which they maintained their innocence but plead guilty to the crime, in exchange for 18 years’ time served and 10 years of a suspended sentence. 

Oklahoma high court stays executions amid questions over drug secrecy

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The Oklahoma supreme court on Monday stayed the executions of two men who challenged the constitutionality of the state's execution drug secrecy.

"We are relieved, and extremely grateful to the Oklahoma supreme court for its reasonable decision to stay the scheduled executions ... With today's stay, the Oklahoma supreme court will be able to fully adjudicate the serious constitutional issues about the extreme secrecy surrounding lethal injection procedures in our state," their attorneys Susanna Gattoni and Seth Day said in a statement following the decision.

Clayton Lockett was scheduled to die at 6pm on Tuesday, and Charles Warner on April 29.

The court in a 5-4 decision said the stay is issued until "final determination of all issues presently pending before this court ... along with all issues that may be brought by [the corrections department] ... and any legal challenges that may arise as a result of this court's resolution of those issues are actively litigated."

The inmates have sued over the constitutionality of Oklahoma’s secrecy about execution drugs, and an Oklahoma county district court judge has ruled that keeping the source of the drugs confidential is a violation of their rights. The state is defending a law that allows it to keep the source of the drugs secret, on the argument that suppliers would be in danger if their identities were made public.


Source: The Guardian, April 21, 2014
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