The United States Supreme Court has reportedly delayed the executions of three prisoners on death row after they claimed that the use of the sedative midazolam in the procedures is cruel.
Justices said Oklahoma could not carry on the executions of Richard Glossip, John Grant and Benjamin Cole by lethal injection using midazolam while the case is pending, reported the BBC.
The prisoners' lawyers argued that midazolam posed an unconstitutional risk of pain and suffering.
The drug was used in three executions which are seen as botched in 2014.
Glossip's execution was to be carried out on Thursday night while the other two were scheduled for lethal injection in the coming weeks.
The court's verdict left open the possibility of Oklahoma using different drug combinations to carry out the sentence.
However, Oklahoma Department of Corrections spokesman Jerry Massie said that the state had not been able to find an alternative drug.
The case will now go to the Supreme Court in April and be decided by late June.
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