Clemency
Under current statute the Governor may grant a commutation of the death sentence, but must have the Recommendation of Clemency From a Board or Advisory Group. The only post-Furman pardon was granted by former Gov. Brad Henry on May 13, 2004 to Osvaldo Torres.
Henry explainted that it was important to remember that the actual shooter in these horrific murders was also sentenced to death and faces execution and that he concluded that there is a possibility a significant miscarriage of justice occurred... specifically that the violation of his Vienna Convention Rights contributed to trial counsel's ineffectiveness, that the jury did not hear significant evidence, and that the result of the trial is unreliable.
In earlier years Governor Lee Cruce commuted every death sentence imposed during his administration (1911–1915).
Read more about this topic: Capital Punishment In Oklahoma
Famous quotes containing the word clemency:
“The clemency of princes is very often only a state-trick, to gain upon the affections of their subjects.”
—François, Duc De La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680)
“That clemency which the world cries up for such a mighty virtue proceeds sometimes from ostentation, sometimes from laziness and neglect, very often from fear, almost always from a mixture of all these together.”
—François, Duc De La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680)