Supreme Court denies last-minute reprieve of Oklahoma inmate’s execution

The Supreme Court on Thursday declined to intervene in the case of an Oklahoma death row inmate who is scheduled to be executed that same morning.

Bigler Stouffer, 79, who was sentenced to death for the 1985 killing of a schoolteacher, had asked the justices to halt his execution over concerns about Oklahoma’s method of execution.

In court filings, Stouffer claimed Oklahoma’s lethal injection protocol threatened to inflict a degree of unconstitutional suffering. 

His request comes after the October execution of Oklahoma inmate John Grant, who reportedly vomited and convulsed as he died, according to witnesses.

A lower federal appeals court, which denied Stouffer’s request earlier this week, found Grant’s “regurgitation and respiratory distress occurred while he was unconscious,” citing testimony from an anesthesiologist who was present at Grant’s execution.

The appeals court’s denial prompted Stouffer’s application to Justice Neil Gorsuch, who handles emergency matters arising from Oklahoma. Gorsuch referred the matter to the full Supreme Court, which denied Stouffer’s request without comment.

An attorney for Stouffer did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Stouffer is scheduled to be executed at 10 a.m. on Thursday.