Current:Home > InvestOklahoma parole board recommends governor spare the life of man on death row-DB Wealth Institute B2 Expert Reviews
Oklahoma parole board recommends governor spare the life of man on death row
View Date:2024-12-23 21:15:15
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma’s Pardon and Parole Board voted 3-2 on Wednesday to recommend the governor spare the life of a man on death row for his role in the 1992 shooting death of a convenience store owner during a robbery.
The board’s narrow decision means the fate of Emmanuel Littlejohn, 52, now rests with Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt, who could commute his sentence to life in prison without parole. Stitt has granted clemency only once, in 2021, to death row inmate Julius Jones, commuting his sentence to life without parole just hours before Jones was scheduled to receive a lethal injection. Stitt has denied clemency recommendations from the board in three other cases: Bigler Stouffer, James Coddington and Phillip Hancock, all of whom were executed.
“I’m not giving up,” Littlejohn’s sister, Augustina Sanders, said after the board’s vote. “Just spare my brother’s life. He’s not the person they made him out to be.”
Stitt’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the board’s decision, but Stitt has previously said he and his staff meet with attorneys for both sides, as well as family members of the victim, before deciding a case in which clemency has been recommended.
Littlejohn was sentenced to death by two separate Oklahoma County juries for his role in the shooting death of 31-year-old Kenneth Meers, who was co-owner of the Root-N-Scoot convenience store in southeast Oklahoma City.
Prosecutors said Littlejohn and a co-defendant, Glenn Bethany, robbed the store to get money to pay a drug debt and that Littlejohn, who had a lengthy criminal history and had just been released from prison, shot Meers after he emerged from the back of the store carrying a broom.
Assistant Attorney General Tessa Henry said two teenagers who were working with Meers in the store both described Littlejohn as the shooter.
“Both boys were unequivocal that Littlejohn was the one with the gun and that Bethany didn’t have a gun,” she told the panel.
Bethany was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Littlejohn, who testified before the panel via a video feed from the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, apologized to Meers’ family and acknowledged his role in the robbery, but denied firing the fatal shot.
“I’ve admitted to my part,” Littlejohn said. “I committed a robbery that had devastating consequences, but I didn’t kill Mr. Meers.
“Neither Oklahoma nor the Meers family will be better if you decide to kill me.”
Littlejohn’s attorneys argued that killings resulting from a robbery are rarely considered death penalty cases in Oklahoma and that prosecutors today would not have pursued the ultimate punishment.
Attorney Caitlin Hoeberlein said robbery murders make up less than 2% of Oklahoma death sentences and that the punishment hasn’t been handed down in a case with similar facts in more than 15 years.
“It is evident that Emmanuel would not have been sentenced to death if he’d been tried in 2024 or even 2004,” she said.
Littlejohn was prosecuted by former Oklahoma County District Attorney Bob Macy, who was known for his zealous pursuit of the death penalty and secured 54 death sentences during more than 20 years in office.
Assistant Federal Public Defender Callie Heller said it was problematic that prosecutors argued in both Bethany’s and Littlejohn’s murder cases that each was the shooter. She added that some jurors were concerned whether a life-without-parole sentence meant the defendant would never be released.
“Is it justice for a man to be executed for an act that prosecutors argued another man committed when the evidence of guilt is inconclusive?” she asked.
veryGood! (8866)
Related
- Watch: Military dad's emotional return after a year away
- For the Ohio River Valley, an Ethane Storage Facility in Texas Is Either a Model or a Cautionary Tale
- As Rooftop Solar Rises, a Battle Over Who Gets to Own Michigan’s Renewable Energy Future Grows
- The Postal Service pledges to move to an all-electric delivery fleet
- Chipotle unveils cilantro-scented soap, 'water' cup candles in humorous holiday gift line
- Britney Spears hit herself in the face when security for Victor Wembanyama pushed her hand away, police say
- Wells Fargo to pay $3.7 billion settling charges it wrongfully seized homes and cars
- Anthropologie Quietly Added Thousands of New Items to Their Sale Section: Get a $110 Skirt for $20 & More
- Lee Zeldin, Trump’s EPA Pick, Brings a Moderate Face to a Radical Game Plan
- After the Fukushima disaster, Japan swore to phase out nuclear power. But not anymore
Ranking
- The White Stripes drop lawsuit against Donald Trump over 'Seven Nation Army' use
- DJ Khaled Shares Video of His Painful Surfing Accident
- 'Can I go back to my regular job?' Sports anchor goes viral for blizzard coverage
- In the Southeast, power company money flows to news sites that attack their critics
- Dick Van Dyke says he 'fortunately' won't be around for Trump's second presidency
- Southern Charm Star Taylor Ann Green's Brother Worth Dead at 36
- Fortnite maker Epic Games agrees to settle privacy and deception cases
- Dwyane Wade Weighs In On Debate Over Him and Gabrielle Union Splitting Finances 50/50
Recommendation
-
After Baltimore mass shooting, neighborhood goes full year with no homicides
-
Luke Bryan Defends Katy Perry From Critics After American Idol Backlash
-
Gunman on scooter charged with murder after series of NYC shootings that killed 86-year-old man and wounded 3 others
-
Passenger says he made bomb threat on flight to escape cartel members waiting to torture and kill him in Seattle, documents say
-
A herniated disc is painful, debilitating. How to get relief.
-
Russian fighter pilots harass U.S. military drones in Syria for second straight day, Pentagon says
-
In New York’s 16th Congressional District, a Progressive Challenge to the Democratic Establishment Splits Climate Groups
-
El Paso mass shooter gets 90 consecutive life sentences for killing 23 people in Walmart shooting