Oklahoma's once busy death chamber to stay quiet much longer

[...] after a botched lethal injection in 2014 and drug mix-ups in 2015 that led to one inmate being executed with the wrong drug and another just moments away from being strapped to a gurney before his lethal injection was halted, the state is facing a series of hurdles and long delays before it could resume capital punishment.

While other states have put moratoriums in place because of shortages of key drugs or growing opposition to the death penalty, Oklahoma's problems stem from the inability of prison officials to carry out the executions as planned.

A detailed report released last week by a commission that studied Oklahoma's death penalty for more than a year unanimously recommended the state shouldn't start executing inmates again until dozens of changes are made to various parts of the death penalty process, from murder investigations to the actual death penalty procedures.

While another suspect was eventually tried, convicted and sentenced to life in prison, Sheppard said: "We had lost all faith in the criminal justice system, in addition to the agonizing guilt that two innocent men had suffered."