Governor Brad Henry of Oklahoma recent­ly grant­ed a stay to Richard Smith, who was sched­uled for exe­cu­tion on April 8. The gov­er­nor want­ed to allow more time to review the rec­om­men­da­tion of the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board that Smith’s death sen­tence be com­mut­ed, and to meet with pros­e­cu­tion and defense attor­neys to hear their per­spec­tives. Smith was con­vict­ed of a 1986 mur­der dur­ing a time when evi­dence of fun­da­men­tal errors in the crim­i­nal jus­tice sys­tem was not as appar­ent as it is now. A year after his con­vic­tion, Oklahoma’s leg­is­la­ture passed a law adopt­ing life with­out parole as a sen­tenc­ing option. Three jurors from Smith’s tri­al have sinced signed affi­davits stat­ing that if life with­out parole had been an option, they would have vot­ed for it. Jurors have also signed affi­davits recall­ing that they were ​“unim­pressed” by the per­for­mance of Smith’s defense lawyer at tri­al. In 2005, a U.S. District Court stat­ed that, by today’s stan­dards, the defense’s fail­ure to request a psy­chi­a­trist to assist him for the penal­ty phase was unreasonable.

The stay will last at least until May 4. The Pardon and Parole Board has made 6 pre­vi­ous rec­om­men­da­tions for clemen­cy for death row inmates since Henry became gov­er­nor in 2003. The gov­er­nor approved 2, com­mut­ing the death sen­tences to life in prison without parole.

(M. McNutt, ​“Henry halts exe­cu­tion to con­sid­er clemen­cy,” The Oklahoman, March 27, 2010). Read more about Richard Smith’s case from Amnesty International. See also Clemency.

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