Execution drug suit to move to state court

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – A federal judge has decided that a lawsuit filed by two Oklahoma death row inmates seeking information about the lethal drugs that will be used in their execution should be heard in state court instead of federal court.

U.S. District Judge David Russell on Friday heard arguments from the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office and lawyers for Clayton Lockett and Charles Warner, two inmates scheduled to die this month. Court filings indicate Russell sent the case back to Oklahoma County District Court.

Lockett and Warner sued the Oklahoma Department of Corrections last week, challenging a state law that says no one can disclose the state’s execution procedures. The lawsuit alleges the men could suffer needlessly before dying.

A hearing had not yet been set in Oklahoma County court on Friday.