Bill Haslam weighs clemency in high-profile cases
Gov. Bill Haslam will issue some pardons before he leaves office.
But the term-limited Tennessee governor has not decided whether he’ll grant clemency in the highly publicized case of Cyntoia Brown, or if he’ll stop an upcoming execution.
“We haven’t done any (pardons) so far. We will definitely do some in the next six months. I don’t think you’ll see a flood but I don’t think it’ll be two or three either,” said Haslam, during a wideranging interview for The Tennessean’s policy and politics podcast.
“I think we’ll take a moderate approach to it.”
Brown is serving a life sentence for a 2004 murder committed when she was 16. Advocates for Brown say she was a victim of sex trafficking and killed Johnny Allen because she thought her life was in danger.
The case has received national attention, with celebrities including Rihanna and Kim Kardashian West calling for Brown’s release.
In May, the six-member Tennessee Board of Parole split on its recommendation to the governor. Two members suggested clemency for Brown, two thought the governor should deny her request and two others thought the governor should reduce her sentence in a way that would require her to spend at least another 11 years in prison.
Haslam spokeswoman Jennifer Donnals said Thursday the governor has yet to receive the formal recommendations from the board, but will review their thoughts and Brown’s application when the documentation is received.
A board spokeswoman said the final report will be sent to the governor soon.
The governor does not need to act on a board of parole recommendations, and could issue clemency on a case not reviewed by the board.
Haslam received and is reviewing a request from Billy Ray Irick, who is slated to be put to death next month.
Irick, a 59-year-old Knoxville man convicted of the 1985 rape and murder of a 7-year-old girl, is scheduled to die Aug. 9. It would be the state’s first execution since 2009, the year before Haslam took office.
“Governor Haslam and the office’s legal counsel are currently reviewing Mr. Irick’s clemency request and will make a decision in due time,” Donnals said in an emailed statement.
“Mr. Irick and several other death row offenders have requested that their sentences be commuted to life imprisonment or time served, and each request will be considered carefully.”
Irick and other death row offenders are challenging the constitutionality of the state’s proposed lethal injection method. Davidson County Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle is expected to issue a ruling before the end of the month; an appeal is expected regardless of the outcome. Immediately after her ruling, attorneys for Irick are expected to ask the Tennessee Supreme Court to issue a stay of execution to allow time for the appeal.
Bishops from the Nashville, Memphis and Knoxville archdioceses sent a letter earlier this month to the governor calling on him to “put an end to the fasttrack executions planned for later this year,” as reported in the Nashville Scene.
Advocates also note Irick’s long-documented history with mental illness as a reason he should not be executed.
Irick’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Pardons, commutations and exoneration among governor’s options
Pardons, commutations and exoneration all may have a slightly different impact, depending on the recipient’s current situation. For example, the governor could commute a death sentence but order it be changed to life in prison.
Someone already out of prison could be pardoned or exonerated. An exoneration would remove the criminal conviction from a person’s record, potentially removing a hurdle to employment.
“We’ll try to do those things (for people) whose life has been restricted from it,” Haslam said.
In December 2017, Haslam exonerated Lawrence McKinney, who spent 31 years in prison after DNA evidence led a court to overturn his conviction.
The exoneration, which came roughly eight years after McKinney was released from prison, opened the door to McKinney formally applying for compensation with the Tennessee Board of Claims.
In considering who could receive a pardon or similar action, Haslam said he’s looking at the specific details of the case but also the impact of granting a pardon.
It’s not uncommon for governors to offer clemency near the end of their tenure.
Before Gov. Phil Bredesen left office in 2010, he commuted the death sentence of Gaile Owens. Sentenced to death in 1986 for hiring a hitman to kill her husband, Owens was released from jail a year after her sentence was commuted.
Haslam said he recently discussed pardons with Bredesen, who’s also the leading candidate for the Democratic nomination in the U.S. Senate race.
A spokeswoman for Bredesen’s campaign confirmed the conversation occurred.
“Governor Bredesen has made it a practice to make himself available to Governor Haslam to discuss the responsibilities of the office — particularly around the most difficult decisions like the death penalty. That’s just the way Governor Bredesen thinks leadership in Tennessee ought to be,” said spokeswoman Alyssa Hansen.
Reach Dave Boucher at 615-259-8892, dboucher@tennessean.com and on Twitter @Dave_Boucher1.