Clemency News and Developments: 2004

Judge Stays Workman Execution, Doubts About Case Remain
A federal judge in Memphis has blocked the execution of Philip Workman, a Tennessee man who has been on death row for more than 20 years despite evidence that he did not shoot the victim who was killed. Workman's execution, scheduled for September 22, was delayed pending the results of a federal review of another Tennessee case that could affect Workman's latest appeals. (New Channel 5 News in Tennessee, September 2, 2004).
Workman was convicted in 1981 of the murder of police officer Ronald Oliver during the course of a Memphis robbery. Workman has never denied his participation in the robbery, but has maintained that he did not fire the shot that fatally wounded Oliver. Since Workman's trial, the state's key witness in the case has recanted his testimony, saying he had lied on the stand. In addition, ballistics evidence has cast doubt on the assertion that Workman's gun was the weapon used to murder Oliver. Based on this evidence, five of the jurors who sentenced Workman to die have since signed affidavits stating they would not have sentenced Workman to death had they heard all of the evidence that emerged following his conviction. When the Tennessee Supreme Court rejected Workman's most recent appeal, Justice Adolpho Birch issued a strong dissent that noted: "(T)he gravity of this case and the strength of my conviction concerning this case drive my response...under any analysis, the new-discovered proof that an 'eyewitness' no longer claimed to have seen Workman shoot the officer, and that the wound causing death was inconsistent with the type of wound which would have been caused by a bullet matching Workman's gun, mandates a conclusion that the evidence may have resulted in a different judgment." Workman's execution date was the fifth date he has faced during his years on death row. A reprieve was granted for his last scheduled execution because the medical examiner in Workman's case had been indicted for faking that he had been abducted by supporters of Workman. Among those endorsing clemency for Workman are Oliver's daughter and the former prosecutor of Shelby County, where Workman was tried and convicted. The former prosecutor has also donated his services as lead counsel for Workman's clemency bid. (See DPIC Press Release, September 15, 2003).


Broad Spectrum of Citizens Seeks Clemency in Upcoming Texas Execution
A broad spectrum of the public is seeking clemency for Texas death row inmate James Allridge, who is scheduled to be executed on Thursday, August 26th. Among those pointing to Allridge's rehabilitation as the basis for mercy are four of the original jurors in his trial, two former death row prison guards, a retired prison system administrator, a Fort Worth city councilman, one of Allridge's former employers, and murder victims' family members. The supporters state that since Aldridge arrived on death row in 1987, his remorse for the murder of Brian Clendennen has led him to strive for redemption, and his behavior has become a model for others on death row.
Former death row guards pointed out that Allridge has made the unit a safer place and that he has used his intellectual skills to teach others in prison to read and write. Allridge has also become an accomplished painter whose art has been displayed throughout the nation and internationally.
Jurors in the case said that they were not presented with important mitigating evidence during his trial and that this information could have led to a sentencing recommendation of life in prison. The jurors say that defense attorneys failed to adequately present evidence about Allridge's troubled relationship with his family, especially his naive desire to please an older brother who was a career criminal. This omission kept jurors from accurately evaluating Allridge's future dangerousness, a determination that Texas uses as the primary basis for a recommendation of death.
The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles has received over 120 requests for clemency in capital cases and has recommended clemency to the Governor on only few occasions. Of the three clemency recommendations sent this year to Governor Rick Perry, he has granted only one, and that was on the basis of the defendant's mental retardation.
Critics of the Texas death penalty system state that it's ironic that the state's capital punishment system permits juries to recommend death based on a future dangerousness determination gleaned from "every bad thing you've ever done," but fails to take into account the acts of redemption and rehabilitation during the clemency process. They point to the words of Charles Aycock, a former president of the State Bar Association and a member of the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, who has stated, "Clemency is not about a rigid legal standard - or even a legal standard capable of articulation. Rather, it is about mercy." The Board of Pardons and Paroles will consider Allridge's clemency request on Monday, August 23rd. (Austin Chronicle, August 20, 2004) (UPDATE: Allridge was executed in the state of Texas on August 26, 2004.)


As Alabama Prepares to Executed Elderly, Ill Inmate, Officials Block Clemency Petition
A clemency letter-writing campaign organized by Alabama death row prisoners on behalf of James Barney Hubbard, an ailing 74-year-old man who is scheduled to be executed on August 5th, was recently halted by Department of Correction authorities at Donaldson Prison. Just two months before Hubbard's scheduled execution, Willie Dorrell Minor wrote a clemency petition to Alabama Governor Robert Riley. He planned to have the petition asking Riley to spare Hubbard's life signed by other individuals on the state's death row before submitting it to the Governor. The letter read, in part, "Mr. Hubbard has been ill for several years suffering from prostate cancer, colon cancer and ulcers to name some of his health problems. Given the condition of this elderly and sick man I respectfully submit that the pending execution of Mr. Hubbard is offensive to every civilized Alabamian.This is not an issue of the death penalty per se, but rather of justice, mercy, and morality. I urge you to grant clemency to Mr. Hubbard...Governor Riley, thank you for your mercy and consideration concerning this very important matter." In order to obtain enough copies of his letter to circulate it to other people on the state's death row, Minor had copies made through a death penalty group that were then mailed back through the prison mail system so that each death row inmate could receive a copy to sign and send to the Governor. It was during this final step that Department of Correction officials confiscated the package of photocopied letters. To date, the governor has not received a clemency petition on behalf of Hubbard. (Letter from George Jones, July 14, 2004).


Commutation Granted in Indiana
Darnell Williams, who was scheduled to be exectued in Indiana on July 9, was granted a commutation of his death sentence to life without parole by Governor Joe Kernan. It was the first commutation in a death penalty case in that state in 48 years. The governor cited the fact that a co-defendant in the case, Gregory Rouster, had received a life sentence, and hence it would be unfair to execute Williams. (CNN.com (AP story), July 2, 2004).
Several members of the prosecution team, including the trial prosecutor, a crime scene technician, and a police officer at the scene joined 6 jurors and the initial post-conviction judge in urging Governor Kernan to grant clemency. The prosecutor said that not only was there a chance that Williams would not have received the death sentence had all the evidence been available, but that he would not have sought death in the first place. Two of the jurors said that they would have acquitted Williams had such evidence been available. (Source: Attorneys for Darnell Williams).


Texas Board Recommends Clemency on Eve of Execution
On the eve of the Kelsey Patterson's scheduled execution in Texas, the state's Board of Pardons and Paroles voted 5-1 to recommend that Governor Rick Perry commute Patterson's death sentence to life in prison. In its rare recommendation for clemency, the Board noted that if Governor Perry refuses to grant clemency, Patterson, a mentally ill man who is scheduled to be executed on Tuesday, May 18th, should receive a 120-day reprieve. The BoardÕs actions mark the first time in more than two decades that members have recommended a commutation to the governor at such a late state in a condemned inmate's case. Patterson has been diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic who, in the years leading up to his capital murder conviction, was ruled mentally incompetent to stand trial on unrelated charges. His impending execution renewed the question of whether it is proper to execute someone who is mentally ill when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2002 that it is unconstitutional to execute someone who is mentally retarded. (Associated Press, May 18, 2004) UPDATE: Despite the recommendation of the Pardons and Paroles Board, Governor Perry denied the clemency request, and Patterson was executed on May 18, 2004. See Mental Illness. Read Amnesty International's Report on Kelsey Patterson.


Oklahoma Governor Grants Clemency to Mexican Foreign National
Just days before the scheduled execution of Osvaldo Torres, a Mexican foreign national on Oklahoma's death row, Governor Brad Henry granted a request for clemency in part because of a recent International Court of Justice decision ordering the United States to review the cases of 51 Mexican foreign nationals on death row because they were denied their right to seek consular assistance following their arrest. Henry's announcement came just hours after the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals decided to stay Torres' execution and order a new hearing in his case. Last week, the Oklahoma Board of Pardon and Parole recommended clemency for Torres. Although Henry has denied three similar recommendations from the Board since taking office, his decision to commute Torres' sentence to life in prison without parole marks the first time that the Governor has granted clemency to an individual on death row. In his statement, Henry said the International Court of Justice ruling is binding on U.S. courts, and that the U.S. State Department had contacted his office to urge that he give careful consideration to the fact that the U.S. signed the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, which ensures access to consular assistance for foreign nationals who are arrested. "The treaty is also important to protecting the rights of American citizens abroad," Henry noted. In an opinion concurring with the Court of Criminal Appeals majority decision to hear Torres' claims that he was denied his access to consular assistance and that he was represented by ineffective counsel during trial, Judge Charles Chapel wrote, "I have concluded that there is a possibility a significant miscarriage of justice occurred, as shown by Torres' claims, specifically that the violation of his Vienna Convention rights contributed to trial counsel's ineffectiveness, that the jury did not hear significant evidence, and the results of the trial is unreliable." (The Oklahoman, May 14, 2004) In addition to those on death row in Oklahoma, Mexican foreign nationals that could be affected by the ICJ's ruling are on death rows in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, and Texas. None of these remaining foreign nationals are currently scheduled for execution.


Oklahoma Adds to a Series of Execution Stays
Shortly before the scheduled 6 p.m. execution of Hung Thanh Le, a Vietnamese foreign national on Oklahoma's death row, Governor Brad Henry granted a stay of execution in deference to Vietnamese officials who requested more time to review Le's file. Le, who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder resulting from fleeing Vietnam, was scheduled to be executed despite a unanimous recommendation for clemency from the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board. More than 1,700 members of Oklahoma City's Vietnamese community signed a petition calling for clemency. Governor Henry has only delayed the execution and set a new date of March 23. (The Oklahoman, February 27, 2004). In North Carolina, the execution of George Page set for Friday, Feb. 27, was also stayed in light of his challenge to the lethal injection procedure used in that state. In Texas, the April execution of juvenile offender Anzel Jones was stayed by Justice Antonin Scalia as the Supreme Court prepares to review the issue of the death penalty for those under the age of 18. See Foreign Nationals.


Governor Perry Grants First Death Sentence Commutation
Texas Governor Rick Perry, following the recommendation of the state's Pardon and parole board, commuted the death sentence for Robert Smith to Life after testing revealed Smith's IQ was below 65. In 2002, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the execution of those with mental retardation was unconstitutional. This is the first death sentence commuted by Governor Perry. (Reuters, March 12, 2004). See Mental Retardation.


Georgia Parole Board Grants 2004's First Clemency
Just one day before Georgia was scheduled to execute Willie James Hall, the state's parole board commuted his sentence to life in prison without parole. During the hearing on Hall's request for clemency, 6 of the jurors from his original trial testified that they would have given Hall life without parole if that sentence had been an option at his trial. In addition, the parole board noted that Hall had excellent behavior in prison and no criminal record before the murder. In 2001, a federal judge in Atlanta threw out Hall's death sentence after finding that his lawyers did not prepare for the sentencing phase of the case, but the sentence was reinstated by a federal appeals court in Atlanta. (Atlanta Journal Constitution, January 26, 2004) See Life Without Parole.