{"id":1924848,"date":"2023-05-05T06:41:05","date_gmt":"2023-05-05T10:41:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/oklahoma-lawmakers-activists-call-on-governor-to-sign-reprieve-of-death-row-inmate\/"},"modified":"2023-05-05T06:44:40","modified_gmt":"2023-05-05T10:44:40","slug":"oklahoma-lawmakers-activists-call-on-governor-to-sign-reprieve-of-death-row-inmate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/oklahoma-lawmakers-activists-call-on-governor-to-sign-reprieve-of-death-row-inmate\/","title":{"rendered":"Activists and lawmakers in Oklahoma urge Governor to sign reprieve for death row inmate."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Foklahoma-lawmakers-activists-call-on-governor-to-sign-reprieve-of-death-row-inmate%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1924848&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>Anti-Death Penalty Activist Sister Helen Prejean Speaks Out<\/h2>\n<h3>Oklahoma State Capital<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cIn that governor\u2019s hand is the power of life and death. We have got to end this; they can\u2019t handle it,\u201d said Sister Helen Prejean, a well-known <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/supreme-court-will-hear-boston-marathon-bomber-execution-case\/\" title=\"Supreme Court Will Hear Boston Marathon Bomber Execution Case\">death penalty abolitionist<\/a>, to a group of about 35 people at the Oklahoma State Capital.<\/p>\n<p>Prejean is famous for her work with convicted murderers Elmo Patrick Sonnier and Robert Lee Willie, which inspired the 1995 film \u201cDead Man Walking\u201d starring Sean Penn and Susan Sarandon.<\/p>\n<h3>Richard Glossip\u2019s Case<\/h3>\n<p>Prejean was speaking to a group demanding that Gov. Kevin Stitt grant a 60-day reprieve for death row inmate Richard Glossip, who is scheduled for execution on May 18. Glossip and Justin Sneed were convicted of the 1997 murder of their employer Barry Van Treese.<\/p>\n<p>The demonstrators ranged from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/oklahoma-lawmakers-activists-call-on-governor-to-sign-reprieve-of-death-row-inmate\/\" title=\"Activists and lawmakers in Oklahoma urge Governor to sign reprieve for death row inmate.\">staunch death penalty opponents<\/a> to pro-capital punishment conservatives who believe Glossip was denied a fair trial. Republican State Rep. Kevin McDugle places himself in the latter category.<\/p>\n<h3>New Evidence<\/h3>\n<p>McDugle got a coalition of 34 Oklahoma legislators from both parties to appoint a special counsel to investigate Glossip\u2019s case. The Philadelphia-based law firm of Reed Smith LLP also investigated the Glossip case. Both claimed to have uncovered new evidence, including evidence of mistakes and prosecutor misconduct.<\/p>\n<p>McDugle said the report shows that prosecutors coached Sneed to change his testimony. He claims the report contains a signed affidavit from a police officer who says he was told to destroy physical evidence and recantation letters from Sneed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf even 10 percent of this is true, we\u2019ve potentially got an innocent man on death row,\u201d McDugle said.<\/p>\n<h3>Citizens Speak Up<\/h3>\n<p>Carolyn Pappas of Yukon, Oklahoma, joined the demonstrators because she wanted to know the truth. Like many Oklahomans, Pappas accepted that innocent people would not be put on death row. But as Glossip\u2019s case gained notoriety, Pappas began to wonder.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur legal system isn\u2019t perfect,\u201d she told The Epoch Times.<\/p>\n<p>Pappas said she respects the law but is more concerned about a higher law. She said it\u2019s essential that citizens speak up when the state is wrong.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we get involved as citizens, then maybe the law can change,\u201d Pappas said.<\/p>\n<h3>Attorney General\u2019s Move<\/h3>\n<p>In a history-making move, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond asked the Pardon and Parole Board at its April 27 hearing to stay Glossip\u2019s execution. Drummond, who was not in office when Glossip was convicted, said the state denied Glossip a fair trial.<\/p>\n<p>Prejean said she was amazed at Drummond\u2019s actions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s unheard of. That really <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ca-governor-breaks-his-own-covid-rules-to-eat-fancy-french-food\/\" title=\"Ca. Governor Breaks His Own COVID Rules To Eat Fancy French Food\">speaks volumes<\/a> to the Supreme Court,\u201d Prejean said.<\/p>\n<h3>Legal Options Exhausted<\/h3>\n<p>The Court of Criminal Appeals for Oklahoma issued an opinion on April 20 stating that after two trials, five appeals, and two reprieves, the former motel manager had exhausted all his legal options.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGlossip is neither entitled to post-conviction relief nor a stay of execution,\u201d the Appeals Court decision reads.<\/p>\n<p>The Pardon and Parole Board denied Glossip clemency. Neither Drummond\u2019s nor Stitt\u2019s offices responded to requests for comment from The Epoch Times.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>OKLAHOMA CITY\u2014Anti-death penalty activist Sister Helen Prejean told a group of about 35 people in the Oklahoma State Capital that the state couldn\u2019t be trusted with the power to execute people. \u201cIn that governor\u2019s hand is the power of life and death. We have got to end this; they can\u2019t handle it,\u201d Prejean said. Prejean<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1615,"featured_media":1924849,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[4091,6499,4173,5786,3673,12474,12167,8838,4723,4927],"class_list":["post-1924848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times","tag-activists","tag-death","tag-governor","tag-inmate","tag-lawmakers","tag-oklahoma","tag-reprieve","tag-row","tag-sign","tag-urge"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1924848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1615"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1924848"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1924848\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1924849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1924848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1924848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1924848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}