Death Penalty

The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals set execution dates for six death row inmates just hours before an attorney for one planned to ask for a rehearing in his case.

Senate Bill 1738 would limit competency hearings for death row inmates.

Stouffer was the first person executed in Oklahoma since John Grant convulsed on the gurney and vomited during his lethal injection in October as the state ended a six-year execution moratorium brought on by concerns over its protocols.

After a hearing last week, Pittsburg County Associate District Judge Tim Mills determined there was “good reason" to believe Wade Lay is not competent to be executed.

A three-sentence announcement from the governor's office said Stitt reached the decision "after reviewing materials presented by all sides of the case." No other statement was included.

The parole board recommended clemency for Stouffer two weeks ago not because they doubted his guilt but because they had concerns about Oklahoma’s lethal injection procedure — concerns most board members now say they no longer have.

What was once one of the nation’s busiest death chambers has not resumed administering capital punishment as easily as some had hoped after Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt stopped Julius Jones from being executed hours before he was scheduled to die.

The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board twice recommended Jones' sentence be commuted to life with the possibility of parole.

There's no way around it. When a person is put to death, they are being killed.

The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board has twice recommended Gov. Kevin Stitt grant Julius Jones clemency and reduce his sentence to life with the possibility of parole, citing doubts about his guilt and problems with his trial.