softheart
01-07-2003, 01:43 PM
Jan. 7
OKLAHOMA----stay of impending execution
Keating Issues Stay Of Execution For Death Row Inmate--Board Recommended
Clemency
Gov. Frank Keating issued a stay of execution Tuesday for a man who was
scheduled to die by injection for the murder of an elderly woman.
Keating said he was issuing the stay because he did not have enough time
to consider a clemency recommendation for Bobby Joe Fields before he
leaves office on Jan. 13 and is succeeded by Brad Henry. Fields had been
scheduled to be executed on Jan. 14.
The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board recommended clemency Monday, urging
Keating to commute Fields' death sentence to life imprisonment.
"Because the board's vote came just one week before the scheduled
execution on Jan. 14, there is simply insufficient time to engage in the
kind of careful and deliberate review tat is to be expected in such
cses," Keating said.
"For that reason, I have issued a stay of execution, and I will
communicate all perinent information on this case to Gov.-elect Brad
Henry's transition team, since he will assume the power to act inthis
case next Monday."
This is the 5th time since Keating took ofice in 1995 that the board has
recommended clemency for a death row inmate. Keating has only granted one
recommendation, for Philip Dewitt Smith in March 2001.
3 of the 5 board members voted Monday in favor of clemency. 1 voted
against it and 1 abstained, said Terry Jenks, Pardon and Parole Board
executive director.
Fields, 39, pleaded guilty in 1994 and was sentenced to die for the 1993
slaying of Louise Schem at her Oklahoma City home.
On March 2, 1993, Fields went into Schem's home to steal a television and
sell it to buy drugs, court records show. Schem, armed with a .25 caliber
pistol, confronted him, and the 2 wrestled for the weapon.
The struggle continued outside. The gun fired, hitting Schem, 77, in the
back of the head and killing her. Police initially arrested another man,
but later found Felds and arrested him.
At issue is whether Fields deliberately shot Schem or if the gun fired
accidentally.
At trial prosecutors claimed Fields took the gun from Schem, then shot
her as she tried to flee. At Monday's hearing, Fields' attorneys said the
gun accidentally fired during the struggle, resulting in the fatal wound.
The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the death sentence.
The state Attorney General's office plans to ask that the board's
recommendation be rejected, said Charlie Price, Attorney General Drew
Edmondson's spokesman.
(source: Associated Press)
OKLAHOMA----stay of impending execution
Keating Issues Stay Of Execution For Death Row Inmate--Board Recommended
Clemency
Gov. Frank Keating issued a stay of execution Tuesday for a man who was
scheduled to die by injection for the murder of an elderly woman.
Keating said he was issuing the stay because he did not have enough time
to consider a clemency recommendation for Bobby Joe Fields before he
leaves office on Jan. 13 and is succeeded by Brad Henry. Fields had been
scheduled to be executed on Jan. 14.
The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board recommended clemency Monday, urging
Keating to commute Fields' death sentence to life imprisonment.
"Because the board's vote came just one week before the scheduled
execution on Jan. 14, there is simply insufficient time to engage in the
kind of careful and deliberate review tat is to be expected in such
cses," Keating said.
"For that reason, I have issued a stay of execution, and I will
communicate all perinent information on this case to Gov.-elect Brad
Henry's transition team, since he will assume the power to act inthis
case next Monday."
This is the 5th time since Keating took ofice in 1995 that the board has
recommended clemency for a death row inmate. Keating has only granted one
recommendation, for Philip Dewitt Smith in March 2001.
3 of the 5 board members voted Monday in favor of clemency. 1 voted
against it and 1 abstained, said Terry Jenks, Pardon and Parole Board
executive director.
Fields, 39, pleaded guilty in 1994 and was sentenced to die for the 1993
slaying of Louise Schem at her Oklahoma City home.
On March 2, 1993, Fields went into Schem's home to steal a television and
sell it to buy drugs, court records show. Schem, armed with a .25 caliber
pistol, confronted him, and the 2 wrestled for the weapon.
The struggle continued outside. The gun fired, hitting Schem, 77, in the
back of the head and killing her. Police initially arrested another man,
but later found Felds and arrested him.
At issue is whether Fields deliberately shot Schem or if the gun fired
accidentally.
At trial prosecutors claimed Fields took the gun from Schem, then shot
her as she tried to flee. At Monday's hearing, Fields' attorneys said the
gun accidentally fired during the struggle, resulting in the fatal wound.
The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the death sentence.
The state Attorney General's office plans to ask that the board's
recommendation be rejected, said Charlie Price, Attorney General Drew
Edmondson's spokesman.
(source: Associated Press)