Oklahoma put a hold on executions after a botched one in 2012 . State resumed them , with a lethal injection cocktail containing a controversial sedative . In her dissent , Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote that she was `` deeply troubled '' by the continued use of midazolam , a sedative at the heart of the lethal injection controversy . Judge James Smith , set to die January 14 , says the execution added to his anxiety .
Oklahoma put a hold on executions after a botched one in 2012 . State resumed them , with a lethal injection cocktail containing a controversial sedative . Judge James Smith , set to die January 14 , says the execution added to his anxiety .