OCCA grants motion to allow more time between executions

Jan. 24—An Oklahoma appeals court on Tuesday granted the attorney general's request for more time between executions.

Attorney General Gentner Drummond on Jan. 18 filed a motion requesting the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals set 60 days between executions instead of the state's pace of every 30 days to lessen the workload on Department of Corrections staff.

OCCA's order issued Tuesday reset the execution dates of seven death row inmates, including Richard Glossip.

"We deeply appreciate the efforts of Attorney General Drummond to recognize that the current pace of executions is unsustainable, said Glossip's attorney Don Knight in a Tuesday press release. "While we are thankful for today's ruling from the OCCA to reset Richard Glossip's execution date, this does not change the fact that an innocent man is still on death row and facing execution. Rich's conviction of murder for hire has been found by the international law firm Reed Smith to be unsupportable. We look forward to using the time we now have to work with the state to fully investigate Rich's wrongful conviction. We know that no one in Oklahoma wants to execute an innocent man."

Glossip was originally scheduled to be executed Feb. 16 after Gov. Kevin Stitt issued a second stay to allow time for OCCA "to address pending legal proceedings."

OCCA denied two motions for evidentiary hearings filed by Glossip's attorneys claiming new evidence was found in the case.

Drummond's motion came after he witnessed the Jan. 12 execution of Scott Eizember. He said meeting with DOC leaders and staff led to his request to slow the pace of Oklahoma's executions.

"A determination was made to request a revised execution schedule in order to alleviate the burden on DOC personnel, maintain confidence in the system, and preserve this solemn and important process," attorneys for the AG's office wrote in a motion.

The AG's office also wrote the pace of 30 days in between executions was "unsustainable" and "unduly burdening the DOC and its personnel."

"This is especially true given the extensive and intensive nature of the training DOC personnel undergo to prepare for each execution," the motion states.

The AG's motion only pertained to Glossip and six inmates included in the state's second phase of a five phase plan to execute 25 inmates in two years.

Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood, who was inside the execution chamber for Eizember's Jan. 12 execution as a spiritual advisor, said he told Eizember that their work "would help all the other guys on death row."

"In short, we fought back and now the guys on death row have more time," Hood said in a press release. "This is something that no other set of activists or lawyers in Oklahoma has accomplished recently."

Hood said that the work of activists against the death penalty will still continue until the practice ends in the state.

Oklahoma was originally scheduled to put to death 10 more inmates in 2023 before OCCAA's ruling out more time between executions.

The state is scheduled to resume executions with Glossip on May 18 for his conviction in the 1997 murder of Barry Van Treese. Glossip was convicted twice of first-degree murder in the murder-for-hire plot that accused him of hiring Justin Sneed to kill Van Treese.

Jemaine Cannon is scheduled to be put to death on July 20 after a Tulsa County Jury in 1996 found his guilty for the 1995 stabbing death of his girlfriend, Sharonda White Clark.

Anthony Sanchez is scheduled for execution Sept. 21 for the 1996 murder of Juli Busken in Norman.

Phillip Hancock is scheduled to be put to death on Nov. 30 after a jury found Hancock guilty of the April 27, 2001, murders of Robert L. Jett Jr., 37, and James V. Lynch, 58 in Oklahoma City.

James Ryder is scheduled for execution Feb. 1, 2024, after he was sentenced to death by a Pittsburg County Jury for the 1999 death of Daisy Hallum and to life in prison without parole for the 1999 death of Sam Hallum.

Michael Smith's execution is scheduled for April 4, 2024, for the 2002 killings of Sarath Pulluru and Janet Moore.

Wade Lay is scheduled for death on Aug. 3 for the 2004 shooting death of Tulsa-area bank security guard Kenneth Anderson.

A competency trial for Lay is currently scheduled to begin in May after a Pittsburg County Judge ruled following an evidentiary hearing "there is good reason to believe" Lay is not competent to be executed.

Contact Derrick James at djames@mcalesternews.com