Clayton Lockett and Charles Warner have sued the state seeking more information about the drugs that would be used to kill them.
The Oklahoma Supreme Court says it is not the place for death-row inmates to go if they want a stay of execution.
Justices said Thursday that the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals should take up stay requests from 2 inmates scheduled to die in the next 2 weeks. The appeals court had said previously it didn't have the authority because the inmates hadn't met all technical requirements under the law.
Clayton Lockett and Charles Warner have sued the state seeking more information about the drugs that would be used to kill them. They say they need stays of execution so they can continue their challenge.
The justices wrote that the Court of Criminal Appeals erred in not taking up the request.
Death penalty abolitionists and others who seek to end the death penalty will protest the executions of two death-row inmates on the days of their executions.
The Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty will host "Don't Kill for Me" demonstrations at the governor's mansion followed by silent vigils on Tuesday for death-row inmate Clayton Lockett and on April 29 for Charles Warner.
The inmates have been in a legal battle with the state over the secrecy surrounding which drugs are used in executions and their origins. The executions are still scheduled to take place, despite pending litigation in the case.
Lockett was found guilty of the 1999 shooting death of a 19-year-old woman, Stephanie Nieman. Warner was convicted for the 1997 death of his roommate's 11-month-old daughter.
Source: Associated Press, April 18, 2014
