AG to weigh in on commutation hearing
The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board is looking to Attorney General Mike Hunter for advice on handling commutation requests from death row inmates.
During a meeting Monday, board members voted unanimously to ask the attorney general' s office to issue an opinion on whether the board can legally hold commutation proceedings for inmates who have been sentenced to death.
The need for advice comes after high-profile death row inmate Julius Jones requested commutation last October, which many believe is the first time a death row inmate has done so.
J ones, 39, was convicted of killing an Edmond man in 2002, spending more than 20 years incarcerated as his legal team filed appeals. Jones and his family have maintained his innocence, and the case gained national attention after the debut of the 2018 documentary "The Last Defense."
In late May, Pardon and Parole Board Director Steve Bickley said his administrative team was still trying to decide if they'd be able to hear the case.
Dale Baich, one of Jones' lawyers, said the state constitution doesn't explicitly disallow death row inmates from having commutation hearings.
Baich also pointed to a 2012 attorney general opinion that said the power of the board and the governor to grant commutations could not be impeded by the Legislature.
The 2012 opinion dealt with a different legal situation — whether commutation could be granted for those who had not served 85% of their sentences for crimes that require at least 85% to be served — but Baich said he thinks the same principles will apply.
“We expect that the rule of law will be followed here, and if the AG suddenly shifts policy, that is something we would look carefully at,” he said.
“To our knowledge, this is the first time that a death-row prisoner has asked for a commutation before a scheduled execution date. So it is novel. But that doesn't mean that it cannot be done."
A commutation hearing only provides inmates just a few minutes to speak, something many say is not enough time to rehash detailed trials.
Once an execution date has been set, death row inmates automatically are assigned a clemency hearing 21 days beforehand. The process for clemency is similar to commutation — both are heard by the Pardon and Parole Board and both review the case — but clemency is a longer, more in-depth process.
If Jones is denied commutation, he would still receive a clemency hearing in the future.
No execution dates have been set for current death row inmates since the state halted executions after a series of botched proceedings in 2015.
But with an announcement this spring that executions will resume, dates could be set as early as this fall.