AG seeks October execution for Jones
State last carried out the death penalty in 2015
Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor is seeking execution dates for Julius Jones and six other death row inmates, marking the first such requests in six years as state officials fought legal battles and considered alternative methods of executions.
The attorney general asked the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals to set execution dates for the inmates in the wake of a U.S. district judge’s ruling that six were eligible since they had not identified an alternative method in an ongoing constitutional challenge to the state’s protocols for lethal injection. A seventh did not challenge the protocols.
Requesting execution dates is the first step in a process that has been dormant since 2015, when Oklahoma last carried out the death penalty.
The dates requested this week begin on Oct. 7 and end on Feb. 10.
“The seven inmates to be scheduled for execution were convicted of heinous crimes,” O’Connor said Thursday.
“They either didn’t challenge the protocol or offer an alternative method of execution. These inmates’ appeals have lasted between 13 and 36 years in the courts. In 2016, two-thirds of Oklahomans voted to insert capital punishment into the constitution. My job as the state’s chief law enforcement officer is to enforce the laws of the state of Oklahoma.”
Dale Baich, a federal public defender in Arizona who is representing Oklahoma death row inmates in the constitutional challenge, said Thursday, “Oklahoma has a checkered history when it comes to carrying out executions.
“The drug protocol that was problematic seven years ago is the same one the state seeks to use again. Given that history and the unresolved questions about the constitutionality of the State’s execution protocol that are pending before the federal district court, Oklahoma should not move forward with any executions at this time.
“To allow executions to proceed when there is a chance the court could find a constitutionally unacceptable risk that a person could suffer because of the drug combination used is just plain wrong.”
The U.S. Supreme Court in 2015 upheld Oklahoma’s use of the drug midazolam as a sedative in the three-drug process, but that drug is under review again. U.S. District Judge Stephen Friot said this month that the Supreme Court’s decision reflected an earlier
version of Oklahoma’s execution methods and that a trial will be held next year on its constitutionality.
However, Friot effectively cleared seven of the inmates for execution, and the attorney general filed notices on Wednesday seeking approval of dates. The inmates have exhausted their appeals. They are:
● Julius Jones, convicted of killing an Edmond man in his driveway in 1999. Jones’ case has been the subject of long-running campaign for clemency and a hearing is scheduled for next month. The execution date sought is Oct. 28.
● James Allen Coddington, sentenced to death in 2003 for killing a 73year-old Choctaw man. The execution date sought is Feb. 10, 2022.
● Donald A. Grant, sentenced to death in 2006 for killing two Del City motel workers. Execution date sought is Dec. 30.
● John Marion Grant, sentenced to death in 2000 for killing a prison kitchen worker. Execution date requested is Oct. 7.
● Wade Greely Lay, sentenced to death in 2005 for killing a Tulsa bank guard. Execution date requested is Dec. 9.
● Gilbert Ray Postelle, sentenced to death in 2008 for killing four people at an Oklahoma City trailer park. Execution date requested is Jan. 20, 2022.
Bigler Jobe Stouffer, sentenced to death in 1985 for killing a Putnam City teacher. Execution date requested is Nov. 18.