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Oklahoma prisons chief recommends procedure changes, more oversight, after botched execution

OKLAHOMA CITY – A report by the head of Oklahoma’s corrections department recommends changes to procedure and more oversight after a botched execution this week.

The report by director of Oklahoma’s Corrections Department Robert Patton released Thursday says decisions about executions should be made by Corrections officials rather than individual wardens. He also says he believes an external investigation of the execution Tuesday night of Clayton Lockett would “be perceived as more credible” if it was conducted by an outsider. He also recommends an indefinite stay for another death row inmate who had been set to die the same night.

Lockett died 43 minutes after his execution began Tuesday night. Autopsy results are pending but state prison officials say Lockett apparently suffered a massive heart attack.

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