Capital Punishment

The Supreme Court has ordered lower courts to review the case of the only woman on Oklahoma’s death row.

A group calling for a halt to the Feb. 17 execution of 35-year-old Gilbert Postelle rallied at the governor's mansion in Oklahoma City on Tuesday.

As executions march grimly forward in Oklahoma after a more than five year lull, the Department of Corrections has changed several of its procedures without explanation.

Oklahoma executed a man with a well-documented history of mental illness and neglect Thursday.

Stouffer was the first person executed in Oklahoma since John Grant convulsed on the gurney and vomited during his lethal injection in October as the state ended a six-year execution moratorium brought on by concerns over its protocols.

After a hearing last week, Pittsburg County Associate District Judge Tim Mills determined there was “good reason" to believe Wade Lay is not competent to be executed.

A three-sentence announcement from the governor's office said Stitt reached the decision "after reviewing materials presented by all sides of the case." No other statement was included.

Oklahoma has agreed to stay the Jan. 6 execution of Wade Lay because a competency hearing can't be held until after that date.

The parole board recommended clemency for Stouffer two weeks ago not because they doubted his guilt but because they had concerns about Oklahoma’s lethal injection procedure — concerns most board members now say they no longer have.

Another death row inmate has failed at gaining a clemency recommendation from the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole board.