Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board Recommends Clemency for Prisoner Scheduled for September Execution

On August 7, 2024, Oklahoma’s Pardon and Parole Board voted 3-2 to recommend clemency for 52-year-old Emmanuel Littlejohn, who is currently scheduled to be executed on September 26. The final decision to grant clemency, reducing Mr. Littlejohn’s death sentence to life without parole, rests with Governor Kevin Stitt, who has only granted clemency once during his tenure. 

“I’ve admitted to my part,” said Mr. Littlejohn during his clemency hearing. “I committed a robbery that had devastating consequences, but I didn’t kill Mr. [Kenneth] Meers.” The clemency petition highlights several ways in which Mr. Littlejohn’s death sentence is the “opposite of reliable,” inconsistent with standards set forth by the Supreme Court. Despite Attorney General Gentner Drummond’s characterization of Mr. Littlejohn as a “violent and manipulative criminal who refuses to take responsibility for his actions,” the clemency petition points to prison records, which demonstrate that Mr. Littlejohn has been non-violent for more than 20 years. The petition argues that “he poses no threat to the prison community,” citing good behavior, family ties, and “debilitating health issues” from a “recent stroke and diagnosis of progressive white matter disease.” The petition concludes: “Given the chance to live out his remaining years in prison, Manuel will continue to provide familial support, model good behavior, and live with remorse.” 

Mr. Littlejohn, whose childhood was marked by “frequent exposure to violence and drugs,” according to the clemency petition, was 20 years old with a brain “less developed than the typical 20-year-old’s” at the time of the incident. Death sentences for robbery-murder are rare in the state, with Attorney Caitlin Hoeberlein explaining during the hearing that they comprise less than 2% of Oklahoma death sentences, and a death sentence in a case with similar facts hasn’t been handed down in more than 15 years. “It is evident that Emmanuel would not have been sentenced to death if he’d been tried in 2024 or even 2004,” she said.  

Both Mr. Littlejohn, and co-defendant Glenn Bethany, age 26 at the time, were convicted for the death of 31-year-old convenience store co-owner Mr. Meers, who died from a single gunshot wound, during their robbery of the store. Despite prosecutors first arguing in 1993 that Mr. Bethany was the shooter responsible, resulting in a sentence of life without parole, they then argued the opposite in the 1994 trial of Mr. Littlejohn, implicating him as the shooter rather than an accomplice in the robbery. The jury, which was unaware of the sentence handed down previously in Mr. Bethany’s case, sentenced Mr. Littlejohn to death, which was later overturned on appeal. “Is it justice for a man to be executed for an act that prosecutors argued another man committed when the evidence of guilt is inconclusive?” argued Assistant Federal Public Defender Callie Heller during the clemency hearing.  

Jurors involved in both Mr. Littlejohn’s 1994 sentencing trial and 2000 resentencing trial expressed confusion about the instructions they were provided, which included the relatively new sentence of “life without the possibility of parole.” In fact, during the 2000 sentencing trial, the jury asked for clarification on whether the sentence of life without parole could later be reduced without another jury verdict, allowing for the defendant to be released on parole—the judge did not answer, instead referring them to their original instructions. Since, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals has acknowledged the confusion and have revised instructions. 

Following the board’s decision, AG Drummond expressed his disappointment and reaffirmed his commitment to Mr. Littlejohn’s death sentence in a statement. “I remain steadfast that the family of Kenny Meers has waited far too long for justice to be done,” he said. “My office intends to make our case to the governor why there should not be clemency granted to this violent and manipulative killer.”