A Parole Board Stated He Shouldn’t Be Executed — However Will The Governor Hear?

In June of 1992, 31-year-old Kenneth Meers was killed by a single bullet throughout a theft on the comfort retailer he owned in Oklahoma Metropolis.

Prosecutors charged 26-year-old Glenn Bethany and 20-year outdated Emmanuel Littlejohn with theft and first-degree homicide. It was attainable to cost two males with one homicide dedicated by one individual due to a authorized doctrine known as felony homicide, which states that anybody concerned in a felony that results in a dying is criminally chargeable for that dying, no matter their position within the precise killing.

At Bethany’s trial, the prosecutor argued he was the only gunman who shot and killed Meers. Bethany was discovered responsible and sentenced to life in jail with out the potential for parole. However when Littlejohn went to trial the next 12 months, prosecutors flipped the script. This time they argued it was Littlejohn, not Bethany, who shot and killed Meers. Littlejohn was sentenced to dying.

Littlejohn, who’s scheduled to be executed by deadly injection on Sept. 26, admits his position within the theft however denies capturing Meers. Final month, he made a last plea for mercy to Oklahoma’s Pardon and Parole Board. In an uncommon transfer, the board voted 3-2 to suggest that Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt commute Littlejohn’s dying sentence to life with out parole.

Littlejohn’s case marks the fifth time the board has really useful clemency for folks on dying row since Oklahoma resumed executions in 2021. Of these, Stitt has granted clemency to just one individual, Julius Jones, whose high-profile innocence declare attracted superstar help. 13 others have been executed, a few of whom confirmed indicators of obvious struggling as they died. Oklahoma is chargeable for a few of the most notorious botched executions within the nation, and its deadly injection protocol has been the topic of in depth litigation.

The governor’s workplace didn’t reply to a request for remark.

In an interview with HuffPost, Littlejohn expressed sorrow for the ache felt by the Meers household however stated he was grateful for the pardon and parole board’s clemency suggestion. “I’m just trying to stay strong,” he stated. “And praying the governor gives me clemency.”

Like most individuals on dying row, Littlejohn skilled violence and poverty as a toddler. His mom, who was 15 when he was born, struggled with drug and alcohol habit, based on a petition for clemency filed by his attorneys. Littlejohn’s father was abusive, based on the petition, and the kid hung out residing together with his grandmother, who ran a prostitution home. As a teen, Littlejohn started promoting medication as a option to earn cash. On the time of the theft that led to Meers’ dying, Littlejohn and Bethany owed cash to a drug supplier who had threatened violence in the event that they didn’t repay.

When Littlejohn went to trial, jurors have been unaware that prosecutors had already argued Bethany killed Meers and that Bethany had been sentenced to life with out parole. The prosecution’s declare throughout Littlejohn’s trial that he was the shooter was a key a part of the state’s argument that he deserved the dying penalty.

Littlejohn’s first dying sentence was overturned by the Oklahoma Court docket of Prison Appeals due to prejudicial, uncorroborated testimony by a jailhouse informant.

Throughout his resentencing, not less than one juror expressed confusion in regards to the punishments they have been selecting between. In a notice submitted to the choose, the jury requested, “[I]s is possible to change the verdict of life without parole to with parole after our verdict and without another jury verdict?”

The jurors’ query instructed a priority that in the event that they sentenced Littlejohn to life with out parole, he would possibly sometime get out of jail. Life with out parole sentences don’t supply the chance for launch; they’re typically criticized as “death by prison” sentences. However the choose merely referred jurors again to the jury directions, which listed their sentencing choices: dying, life with out parole, or life. In the end, the jurors resentenced Littlejohn to dying.

When Littlejohn raised this challenge on attraction, the appeals court docket acknowledged the confusion and instructed offering jurors with clarifying info in future instances — however didn’t grant aid to Littlejohn.

Since then, jurors from each Littlejohn’s 1994 trial and his 2000 resentencing trial have signed sworn affidavits indicating they didn’t imagine a dying sentence was the suitable punishment however selected dying as a result of they believed the choice would possibly permit him to in the future stroll free.

Littlejohn, who’s now 52, has not been disciplined for violent misconduct in additional than 20 years, based on his clemency petition. After having a stroke final 12 months, he makes use of a wheelchair to go greater than a brief distance. He stays in shut contact together with his daughter, sister and mom, who’s now sober.

“They’re my heart,” Littlejohn stated. “That’s my support. That’s who I love.”