OKLAHOMA CITY — Several Republican lawmakers, religion leaders and a former chairman of the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board are calling for a moratorium on executions.
Rep. Kevin McDugle, R-Broken Arrow, stated he does not wish to abolish the death penalty, he merely needs to pause deadly injections till the method will be reformed to stop the likelihood that an harmless individual is put to death.
McDugle is searching for the moratorium because the May 18 execution of Richard Glossip nears. McDugle has been one of the vital vocal advocates for Glossip, who claims he’s harmless.
Glossip is about to be executed for the 1997 beating death of his boss, Oklahoma City motel proprietor Barry Van Treese. But Glossip’s attorneys allege he was arrange by a motel upkeep man who they argue killed Van Treese throughout a botched theft and shifted the blame to Glossip to keep away from getting the death penalty himself. Attorney General Gentner Drummond just lately appointed an unbiased counsel to overview the case.
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“Oklahoma has had over 120 executions since 1976. Out of those, we’ve had 10 that were exonerated after they went through the full process because of DNA,” McDugle stated, citing figures from the Death Penalty Information Center. “Personally, I believe that we have one more person that’s still on death row, at least one, that is innocent.”
McDugle and others who’ve expressed issues about Oklahoma’s deadly injection course of need the state to implement suggestions from the Oklahoma Death Penalty Review Commission earlier than resuming executions.
In a Wednesday news convention, McDugle stated Gov. Kevin Stitt or the Oklahoma Legislature might subject a moratorium on executions. He stated it is unlikely the Legislature would take motion this yr.
McDugle and former Pardon and Parole Board Chairman Adam Luck additionally expressed doubts concerning the equity of the clemency course of for death-row inmates.
About 78% of Oklahomans help pausing executions, stated Demetrius Minor, nationwide director for Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty. That determine comes from a ballot the group commissioned in January. More than half of these polled stated they like inmates be sentenced to life in jail as a substitute of being handed a death sentence, Minor stated.
In August, the Oklahoma chapter of the group referred to as for a moratorium on executions.
Reps. Mark Lepak, R-Claremore, and Preston Stinson, R-Edmond, and a number of other religion leaders had been additionally current on the news convention.
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Richard Glossip
Name: Richard Glossip
Birthdate: 02/09/1953
Offense: First-degree homicide, two death sentences
County Convicted: Oklahoma
Conviction date: 06/01/1998, 08/27/2004
On death row since: 08/31/1998. He has exhausted his court docket appeals and has had his execution date moved multiple times to allow time for the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals to address pending legal proceedings. Glossip is currently set to be executed May 18, 2023.
Jemaine Cannon
Name: Jemaine Cannon
Birthdate: 11/13/1971
Offense: First-degree murder
County Convicted: Tulsa
Conviction date: 03/26/1995
On death row since: 4/8/1996. He has exhausted his court appeals. His execution is set for July 20, 2023.
Anthony Sanchez
Name: Anthony Sanchez
Birthdate: 11/01/1978
Offense: First-degree murder
County Convicted: Cleveland
Conviction date: 06/06/2006
On death row since: 6/7/2006. He has exhausted his court appeals. His execution is set for Sept. 21, 2023.
Phillip Hancock
Name: Phillip Hancock
Birthdate: 02/15/1964
Offense: First-degree murder, two death sentences
County Convicted: Oklahoma
Conviction date: 10/25/2004
On death row since: 11/01/2004. He has exhausted his court appeals. His execution is set for Nov. 30, 2023.
James Ryder
Name: James Ryder
Birthdate: 03/30/1962
Offense: First-degree murder
County Convicted: Pittsburg
Conviction date: 06/21/2000
On death row since: 6/23/2000. He has exhausted his court appeals. His execution is set for Feb. 1, 2024.
Michael D. Smith
Name: Michael D. Smith
Birthdate: 06/24/1982
Offense: First-degree murder, two death sentences
County Convicted: Oklahoma
Conviction date: 10/14/2003
On death row since: 10/20/2003. He has exhausted his court appeals. His execution is set for April 4, 2024.
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Alfred Mitchell
Name: Alfred Mitchell
Birthdate: 12/23/1972
Offense: First-degree murder
County Convicted: Oklahoma
Conviction date: 07/10/1992
On death row since: 7/15/1992. Click here to read more. He has exhausted his court appeals. His execution is about for Oct. 3, 2024.
Marlon Harmon
Name: Marlon Harmon
Birthdate: 07/12/1980
Offense: First-degree homicide
County Convicted: Oklahoma
Conviction date: 07/02/2008
On death row since: 07/14/2008. Click here to read more. He has exhausted his court appeals. His execution is about for Dec. 5, 2024.
Carlos Cuesta-Rodriguez
Name: Carlos Cuesta-Rodriguez
Birthdate: 10/04/1955
Offense: First-degree homicide
County Convicted: Oklahoma
Conviction date: 08/15/2007
On death row since: 8/20/2007. He has exhausted his court appeals. His execution is about for June 6, 2024.
Clarence Goode Jr.
Name: Clarence Goode Jr.
Birthdate: 04/22/1976
Offense: First-degree homicide, three death sentences
County Convicted: Tulsa
Conviction date: 12/10/2007
On death row since: 1/14/2008. He has exhausted his appeals. His execution is set for June 6, 2024.
Emmanuel Littlejohn
Name: Emmanuel Littlejohn
Birthdate: 11/09/1971
Offense: First-degree murder
County Convicted: Oklahoma
Conviction date: 11/23/1994
On death row since: 11/30/1994. He has exhausted his court appeals. His execution is set for Nov. 2, 2023.
James Pavatt
Name: James Pavatt
Birthdate: 11/10/1953
Offense: First-degree murder
County Convicted: Oklahoma
Conviction date: 10/21/2003
Death row rulings: Put on death row in 2003, Pavatt had his death sentence overturned in 2017. A federal court overturned that ruling, reinstating Pavatt’s death sentence on June 27, 2019. His appeals have been exhausted. His execution is about for July 11, 2024.
Kendrick Simpson
Name: Kendrick Simpson
Birthdate: 10/02/1980
Offense: First-degree homicide, two death sentences
County Convicted: Oklahoma
Conviction date: 10/26/2007
On death row since: 11/5/2007. His execution is about for March 7, 2024.
Kevin Underwood
Name: Kevin Underwood
Birthdate: 12/19/1979
Offense: First-degree homicide
County Convicted: Cleveland
Conviction date: 04/03/2008
On death row since: 04/07/2008. His execution is about for Dec. 7, 2023.
Raymond E. Johnson
Name: Raymond Johnson
Birthdate: 03/25/1974
Offense: First-degree homicide, two death sentences
County Convicted: Tulsa
Conviction date: 07/28/2009
On death row since: 08/10/2009. His execution is about for May 2, 2024.
Richard Rojem
Name: Richard Rojem Jr.
Birthdate: 12/19/1957
Offense: First-degree homicide
County Convicted: Washington
Conviction date: 07/15/1985
On death row since: 07/15/1985. He has exhausted his court docket appeals. His execution is about for Oct. 5, 2023.
Ricky Malone
Name: Ricky Malone
Birthdate: 06/10/1974
Offense: First-degree homicide
County Convicted: Comanche
Conviction date: 06/16/2005
On death row since: 06/20/2005. SCOTUS denied certiorari 10/7/2019.
Ronson Bush
Name: Ronson Bush
Birthdate: 05/15/1977
Offense: First-degree homicide
County Convicted: Grady
Conviction date: 10/29/2009
On death row since: 11/13/2009. Click here to read more. His execution is set for Sept. 5, 2024.
Termane Wood
Name: Termane Wood
Birthdate: 10/09/1979
Offense: First-degree murder
County Convicted: Oklahoma
Conviction date: 05/07/2004
On death row since: 05/17/2004. He has exhausted his appeals. His execution is set for Feb. 8, 2024.
Wendell Grissom
Name: Wendell Grissom
Birthdate: 10/11/1968
Offense: First-degree murder
County Convicted: Blaine
Conviction date: 06/17/2008
On death row since: 06/30/2008. His execution is set for Jan. 11, 2024.
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Rep. Kevin McDugle of Broken Arrow said a majority of Oklahomans polled agree with the idea of hitting pause on the death penalty.
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