McALESTER, Okla. – Lawyers for Richard Glossip are preparing their next legal battle.
Glossip’s legal team says he has barely escaped death twice in two weeks, had his last meal twice, said goodbye to his family twice. They’re calling it cruel and unusual punishment.
On Wednesday, Glossip was given his fourth stay of execution.
Gov. Mary Fallin says she learned about the drug mix-up at the Department of Corrections early Wednesday afternoon.
“A doctor who does the execution comes in, I don’t know the timing of that. [He] came in, put the drugs out, noticed there was a difference in the type of potassium that was there, did the right thing, told the legal counsel of the Department of Corrections,” Gov. Fallin said.
Out of an abundance of caution, the state halted Glossip’s execution.
Glossip has narrowly avoided death twice now in two weeks.
Attorney Don Knight was outside the state penitentiary gate with Glossip’s family when the governor issued a stay around 4 p.m.
It happened about an hour after Glossip was set to die.
“Those people went through 45 minutes of feeling like the state was murdering their loved one in the institution as we were standing there, only to find out 45 minutes later that he in fact had been risen from the dead,” Knight said.
Glossip’s attorneys are still deciding their next move after months of legal wrangling.
Wednesday, they exhausted their efforts with the U.S. Supreme Court.
Only a mix-up with the drugs that would be used by the State of Oklahoma spared Glossip’s life.
Thursday, the governor said she’s not concerned about negative attention across the country over another mishap in McAlester.
“What’s really been going on the last many months is a debate who are anti-death penalty and those who support the death penalty. The death penalty is a current law in the state of Oklahoma. As governor, it’s my responsibility the law is enforced,” Gov. Fallin said.
Thursday afternoon, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt requested an indefinite stay for the next three executions including that of Richard Glossip.
