Tara Currin’s ex-boyfriend, Robert Lee Harrison Jr., showed up at her job with a gun and shot her eight times in March 2022, even though he was legally barred from having firearms. 

Harrison had three prior felony convictions, a misdemeanor conviction for domestic abuse and two active protective orders against him that should have kept him from possessing guns under state and federal laws. He also had two pending criminal charges against him for possessing a firearm after a prior felony conviction and was out of jail on bond.

If Currin had lived in one of 21 states with a red flag law, a judge could have ordered police to seize Harrison’s guns. 

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The post Listen Frontier: Reporter Ashlynd Huffman talks about her story on Oklahoma’s anti-red flag law appeared first on The Frontier.

Harrison had three prior felony convictions, a misdemeanor conviction for domestic abuse and two active protective orders against him that should have kept him from possessing guns under state and federal laws. He also had two pending criminal charges against him for possessing a firearm after a prior felony conviction and was out of jail on bond.

If Currin had lived in one of 21 states with a red flag law, a judge could have ordered police to seize Harrison’s guns. 

Here are five takeaways from The Frontier’s reporting on Currin’s case and how guns contribute to domestic violence in Oklahoma.

Read the full story here

1. Firearms have been the leading cause of domestic violence homicides in Oklahoma since 1998, according to state data. 

2. Guns accounted for 70% of domestic violence-related fatalities in Oklahoma in 2021, according to the most recent state numbers.

3. Oklahoma’s Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board reviews deaths and makes policy recommendations to help protect victims. But the board hasn’t offered any changes to state gun laws. 

4. In 2020, Oklahoma enacted the nation’s first and only anti-red flag law. The law bans the state or any county or city  from enacting a red flag law or accepting any grants to support red flag legislation. 

5. The Violence Policy Center, a nonprofit organization that advocates for gun control has ranked Oklahoma in its top 10 states for women murdered by men in 15 out of the past 25 years. Oklahoma is now ranked number two in the nation for women murdered by men.

The post Five things to know about domestic violence and guns in Oklahoma appeared first on The Frontier.

Harrison, 50, became verbally abusive and accused Currin, 53, of hiding cameras around her apartment, she said. 

She knew she had to break up with Harrison when he crept up behind her with a gun and shot into the wall at her apartment in Warr Acres.

“I wasn’t scared of Robert,” she said. “I was afraid of him when he had a gun.”

Harrison had three prior felony convictions, a misdemeanor conviction for domestic abuse and two active protective orders against him that should have kept him from possessing guns under state and federal laws. He also had two pending criminal charges against him for possessing a firearm after a prior felony conviction and was out of jail on bond. 

But none of these things kept Harrison from hiding in the parking garage with a gun at the Oklahoma City hospital where Currin worked and shooting her eight times on March 11, 2022.

If Currin had lived in one of 21 states with a red flag law, a judge could have ordered police to seize Harrison’s guns. But Oklahoma lawmakers passed the nation’s first and only anti-red flag law in 2020. The law bans the state or any county or city from enacting a red flag law or accepting any grants to support red flag legislation. 

Domestic violence advocates say Oklahoma’s permissive gun laws give abusers easy access to weapons. Guns accounted for 70% of domestic violence-related fatalities in Oklahoma in 2021, according to the most recent state numbers. The Violence Policy Center, a nonprofit organization that advocates for gun control has ranked Oklahoma in its top 10 states for women murdered by men in 15 out of the past 25 years. Oklahoma is now ranked number two in the nation for women murdered by men.

Kim Garrett-Funk, founder of the Oklahoma City-based nonprofit Palomar, which provides services to victims of domestic violence, said she saw the worst cases in her career in the last three years and attributed it to the state’s firearm laws such as not requiring a permit to carry and the Anti-Red Flag Act. She said simultaneously, as the laws changed, the state also lacked affordable housing, childcare, and resources for victims, and some abusers get triggered by protective orders and escalate to severe violence.

“I think part of it goes back to access to firearms. There’s a direct correlation. If you look back at our laws, opening up access and an increase in firearm-related homicides,” Funk said. 

A protective order didn’t stop an attack with a gun 

The day after Valentine’s Day in 2022, Currin went to the Oklahoma County courthouse and took out an emergency protective order against Harrison. 

Currin checked the box marked “victim of domestic abuse/violence” and wrote she was afraid Harrison would retaliate against her for filing the protective order. She wrote that she wanted Harrison to get mental health and substance use treatment. 

Currin changed her phone number and the locks at her apartment. She told sheriff’s deputies to serve Harrison with the protective order at his brother’s house, but they couldn’t find him. Currin said Harrison called her mother’s phone and said he knew sheriff’s deputies were trying to find him to serve the protective order. She told Harrison he needed to get help for his drug use. 

Federal law bars anyone with an active protective order against them from possessing guns. When Oklahoma County deputies serve an order, they tell the person to turn over any weapons they have to law enforcement, but can’t make anyone comply or forcibly seize guns, said Aaron Brillbeck, a spokesperson for the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office. 

Currin said she doesn’t know how Harrison got access to guns, but he always managed to have one.  

One day after an Oklahoma County judge finalized Currin’s emergency protective order, Harrison showed up at her workplace with a gun. 

Harrison hid in the parking garage of Integris Baptist Medical Center where he followed Currin to her car at the end of the work day. 

“He punched me right in the face. And he said, ‘Scoot over, I’ll shoot you,'” Currin recalled. 

He continued punching her, but Currin was able to open the passenger-side door of the car and escape. Harrison chased Currin and cornered her by the elevators on the fourth floor. He raised his gun and pointed it at her. Currin grabbed the weapon, hoping to at least keep him from getting a fatal shot. Harrison shot Currin six times in the abdomen and twice in the thigh.

Harrison then fled the scene as Currin tried to crawl back into the hospital. She just wanted to survive and knew there were nurses two floors below. Currin climbed down a flight of stairs before losing consciousness. 

Second Amendment advocates fight red flag laws

Firearms have been the leading cause of domestic violence homicides in Oklahoma since 1998, according to data from the Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board. The state panel operates under the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office and reviews deaths and makes policy recommendations to help protect victims. 

The board can make recommendations to the legislature, said Leslie Berger, press secretary for the Office of the Oklahoma Attorney General. But it has not made any recommendations to change state gun laws in any of the available reports online which date back to 2002. A different organization produced the reports prior to 2010. 

The board recommended in 2020 that law enforcement and the courts assess whether people convicted of domestic abuse and violating protective orders have firearms, but didn’t offer any specific changes to the law.

A growing number of states began adopting red flag laws after the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Before 2018, just five states had red flag laws. 

The laws allow police and family members to seek a court order to temporarily remove guns from individuals who may pose a violent threat to themselves or others. 

The U.S. Department of Justice issued model legislation in 2021 for states to follow that outlines a process allowing law enforcement to seize weapons with a court order.

But Second Amendment advocates have opposed efforts to prevent people from keeping guns as an infringement of the constitutional right to bear arms.

The United States Supreme Court is now weighing whether the federal law that bars people with active protective orders from possessing guns is constitutional. The case involves a Texas man who was criminally charged for possessing a gun while there was an active domestic violence protective order against him. Zackey Rahimi was involved in five separate shootings and threatened a woman with a gun before his arrest. 

In 2020, Sen. Nathan Dahm, R-Broken Arrow, and Rep. Jay Steagall, R-Yukon, introduced the nation’s first anti-red flag law in the Oklahoma Legislature. The bill’s authors said during hearings at the Oklahoma Capitol they believe red flag laws violate the constitutional rights of gun owners.

“This isn’t solely about the Second Amendment. These red flag laws violate numerous provisions of the Bill of Rights. The right to face your accuser, the right to a fair trial, the right to be protected from unreasonable search and seizures,” Dahm said while presenting the bill at a Senate committee. “In fact, these red flag laws violate the majority of the Bill of Rights.” 

Some lawmakers raised concerns about mass shootings and domestic violence cases when the bill was brought for a vote during a committee hearing in the House of Representatives. 

“What is more important? A man’s right to a weapon, or a woman’s right to life, liberty, and happiness,” said Rep. Trish Ranson, D-Stillwater.

The bill passed with strong support from Republican lawmakers. Gov. Kevin Stitt, who signed the bill into law, did not respond to questions or interview requests.

The Frontier attempted to reach Dahm through phone calls, interview requests via email, and written questions through email, but he didn’t respond.

Steagall declined an interview request and did not respond to written questions.

Currin believes a red flag law could have prevented her attack. The court could have granted a search warrant for police to seize any weapons. Tara Tyler, executive director of the domestic violence support agency Survivor Resource Network in Ponca City, believes limiting abusers’ access to firearms could help save lives.  

“There’s no question that unfettered, unrestricted gun access negatively impacts public safety,” she said. “And I say that as a gun owner.”

There is usually a pattern of escalating violence before most intimate partner homicides, said Sarah Schettler, a spokeswoman for the Norman Police Department.

“If those who have convictions early have firearms removed, lethal events may not be as likely to occur,” Schettler said.

A red flag law could be another tool to help law enforcement prevent homicides, Shettler said. 

Representatives for the Tulsa and Edmond departments all declined to answer questions about the efficacy of red flag laws and the Oklahoma City Police Department didn’t have any information on the effect of the Anti-Red Flag Act.

Trying to recover after a protective order served too late

Police didn’t find Harrison until the day after he shot Currin, when his black Ford F-150 truck was spotted at an Oklahoma City apartment complex. 

Harrison took off running into a wooded area, where a police officer chased him to a metal fence. Officers found ecstasy, marijuana, methamphetamine and other pills on Harrison. Police searched the apartment and found a gun in the master bedroom, but it’s unclear if it was the weapon used to shoot Currin. The department declined to comment on whether it was the gun used to shoot her.

After the shooting, Currin had to have surgery on her left leg to avoid having it amputated. She had physical therapy and home health services for three months and recently started physical therapy again. 

Currin only started to feel pain from her injuries after the shock and adrenaline from the attack wore off. Doctors told her she was lucky to be alive.

Police didn’t serve Harrison with Currin’s protective order until March 15, 2022, four days after the shooting, when he was sitting in the Oklahoma County Detention Center. 

Harrison continued to try to contact Currin. Six months after he shot her and left her bleeding out, he emailed her from the jail and asked to visit with her by video. Contacting Currin violated the protective order she still had against Harrison. 

Federal authorities charged Harrison with illegal possession of ammunition for two spent rounds from a .45-caliber handgun that were found in the parking garage after the shooting. Harrison was prosecuted as part of Operation 922, an initiative of the U.S. Attorney for the Western  District of Oklahoma to crack down on gun violence by targeting repeat domestic abusers. Operation 922 has netted 284 convictions for breaking federal firearm laws since 2018. He was also charged with carjacking, kidnapping, and use and discharge of a firearm during a carjacking after he shot Currin.

Currin didn’t find out about Harrison’s previous history of domestic violence until his federal trial. Harrison was convicted of misdemeanor domestic abuse in 2010 and his ex-wife took out a protective order against him. Another woman Harrison dated filed a protective order in 2020 that was still in effect when Harrison met Currin.

The federal jury found Harrison guilty of all charges after a one-day trial in January and a judge sentenced him to life in federal prison in October. Harrison is appealing the federal case. Harrison still has more pending state charges related to the shooting that are scheduled for trial in March. 

Currin still suffers from nerve damage, numbness, and pain. She also has Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and participates in therapy programs at Palomar for domestic abuse survivors. 

She left the job that she loved as a department assistant at Integris Baptist Medical Center after 22 years because it was a constant reminder of the attack.

Currin said something needs to change, and it starts with ensuring violent offenders can’t get guns. 

“From my experience, having that access to a gun, knowing that this person is violent is the scariest thing for a woman,” Currin said. 

The post A criminal record and protective orders didn’t stop her attacker from having a gun appeared first on The Frontier.

The execution was delayed about an hour while Hancock, strapped to a gurney, waited while the process was held up for legal reasons and while awaiting a chaplain to arrive. 

Hancock’s legal team asked to postpone the execution less than an hour before it set to begin Thursday morning. But Steven Harpe, director of the Department of Corrections said it was “kind of late in the game.”

Harpe described Hancock’s demeanor as entertaining and in good spirits.

As the curtains lifted, Hancock smiled and said, “‘where are my enemies at,’” according to the Associated Press reporter Jake Bleiberg, who witnessed the execution.

Hancock looked at Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond and ranted about his office not supporting the claim that he killed Jett and Lynch in self-defense, according to media witnesses. Hancock was unconscious at 11:23 a.m. and pronounced dead at 11:29 a.m. Drummond attended the execution but did not speak to reporters. In an emailed statement, he said that “justice has been served” for the murders of Jett and Lynch.

“I hope today brings a measure of peace to the families of the men whose lives were tragically cut short by Phillip Dean Hancock,” Drummond said in the email.

Before he died, Hancock expressed hope that the state would exonerate him after his death, according to media witnesses. 

After the execution, Lynch’s niece read a letter from the victim’s youngest sister, Caroline Thomas, who wrote that she was believed justice had been served according to God’s will.

“This 22 year nightmare can finally be laid to rest. I have prayed for his salvation for nearly two decades,” Thomas wrote. “And I can only hope that he chose to get his soul right with God before his window of opportunity closed for eternity.”

Hancock claimed he killed Jett and Lynch after they tried to hold him against his will. Hancock said he was afraid the men would kill him. Shawn Tarp, the only eyewitness to the murders, testified at trial that Jett ordered Hancock into a metal cage before the shooting. Hancock grabbed a pistol that was tucked into Jett’s pants and shot both men.

Lynch had bullet wounds to his torso, face and left hand, according to records. Jett had wounds to his upper right back, right elbow, and side and right knee. Jett ran toward the backyard to escape after being shot in the back. Hancock followed him. 

Jett’s last words were, “I’m going to die,” according to Assistant Oklahoma Attorney General Joshua Lockett.

“Yes, you are,” Hancock reportedly responded before fatally shooting Jett.

Hancock admitted to killing Jett and Lynch but claimed he acted in self-defense. 

“I was suddenly terrified for my life. I have no doubt they would have killed me,” Hancock said at a clemency hearing via video conference in front of the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board on Nov. 8.

Lockett argued that if Hancock had only been trying to defend himself, he wouldn’t have chased Jett to the backyard and shot him again. Hancock also had a history of claiming self-defense. In 1982, Hancock shot another man dead and claimed it was in self-defense. He was convicted of manslaughter.

Oklahoma state lawmakers Kevin McDugle, R-Broken Arrow, and Justin Humphrey, R-Lane, spoke in support of Hancock’s self-defense claims at the hearing. McDugle, who has become something of an anti-death penalty advocate in recent years, has supported Hancock’s self-defense claim, and told The Frontier on Thursday “I think it’s a shame that Phillip Hancock was put to death for that reason here in Oklahoma.”

The Pardon and Parole Board voted 3-2 to recommend that Gov. Kevin Stitt grant Hancock clemency. Hancock’s execution marks the third time Stitt has rejected the board’s clemency recommendation since Oklahoma began carrying out executions again in 2021. 

Hancock’s attorney Shawn Nolan said in a press release after the execution that Stitt “unconscionably” decided not to halt the execution. He further said he was sad that Oklahoma executed Hancock for defending himself from a vicious attack.

The Oklahoma chapter of the criminal justice reform group Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty issued a statement Thursday criticizing Stitt’s decision not to grant clemency. Brett Farley, the state coordinator for the group, called Hancock’s execution “another gross miscarriage of justice.”

“Oklahoma’s practice of capital punishment continues to be riddled with problems, including the inability of the state to prevent the execution of innocent people,” Farley said in a press release.

Oklahoma executions since 2021

Oct. 28, 2021: John Marion Grant
Dec. 9, 2021: Bigler Jobe Stouffer II
Jan. 27, 2022: Donald Anthony Grant
Feb. 17, 2022: Gilbert Postelle
Aug. 25, 2022: James Allen Coddington
Oct. 20, 2022: Benjamin Cole
Nov. 17, 2022: Richard Fairchild
Jan. 12, 2023: Scott Eizember
July 20, 2023: Jemaine Cannon
Sep. 21, 2023: Anthony Sanchez
Nov. 30, 2023: Phillip Hancock

The post Oklahoma carries out final execution of 2023 appeared first on The Frontier.

I hadn’t. 

My reporting for The Frontier found that prison staffing shortages after the former-privately operated facility have led to more violence at the prison since the state took over. 

Often, it’s people in the community who hear something, know, or worry about something that gets stories started. Our reporting puts tough questions to people in power. We sometimes have to pay to get open records and tanks of gas to cover stories. Your donations to The Frontier help make our work possible.

NewMatch supports independent, public-service journalism. Now through Dec. 31, donations to The Frontier will be matched by NewsMatch. We could earn up to $50,000 in matched donations. 

This collaborative fundraising effort and your donations will help The Frontier continue digging into stories and shedding light on hidden issues.

I joined the staff of The Frontier about a month ago to cover the Oklahoma criminal justice system and I want to thank the current and future donors who are making my work  possible. 

In my first month, I’ve already written about death row inmate Richard Glossip’s innocence claim and a hearing at the Oklahoma Capitol to examine the state’s death penalty. I also covered death row inmate Phillip Hancock’s clemency hearing at the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board.

As 2023 comes to a close, thank you for donating and continuing to trust The Frontier with telling your story and providing independent, local journalism for Oklahoma.

The post Your donations are important as we seek to uncover the truth appeared first on The Frontier.

The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board recommended clemency for Phillip Dean Hancock  in a 3-2 vote on Wednesday.

The board has recommended clemency in four cases since the state resumed executions in 2021 after a six-year moratorium. Stitt has only granted clemency once, in the case of Julius Jones, who was convicted of the 1999 murder of Paul Howell. Jones’ sentence was commuted to life without parole.

A spokeswoman for Stitt told The Frontier the Governor’s office will weigh information from the prosecution, defense, and the victims’ families before making a decision.

Hancock was convicted in 2004 for the 2001 double-murder of Robert Lee Jett, 37, and James Vincent Lynch, 58, in Southwest Oklahoma City. Hancock, 59, claims that he killed the men after Jett threatened him with a metal bar and demanded he get into a cage.

Hancock said his only means of survival was to get a pistol that was tucked into Jett’s pants and shoot both men. 

“I was suddenly terrified for my life. I have no doubt they would have killed me,” he said.

But Assistant Attorney General Joshua Lockett told the Pardon and Parole Board that Hancock hasn’t given consistent statements about what led up to the fatal shooting. An eyewitness testified at the 2004 trial that Hancock was the aggressor. Jett also had injuries to his back, which were  inconsistent with a self-defense scenario, Lockett said. 

“Nothing between then and now has made his claim any more credible,” Lockett said. 

The board also heard from Jett’s family members. Ryan Jett told the board his brother didn’t deserve to die.

“He did not deserve to be hunted down in the backyard and killed like a dog,” Ryan said.

Republican State Representatives Kevin McDugle and Justin Humphrey both attended the hearing and backed Hancock’s self-defense claims.

Humphrey said he hopes Stitt will look at the facts of the case and agree that clemency is warranted.

“I continue to support the death penalty but believe that we must use it appropriately, ” Humphrey said. “I hope the people of Oklahoma agree that self-defense should not be a case where the death penalty is used.” 

Hancock’s execution is slated for Nov. 30. Unless Stitt grants clemency, Hancock will be the 11th person to die by lethal injection since Oklahoma resumed executions in October 2021. 

Oklahoma has three more executions scheduled for 2024. 

James Ryder’s execution is set for February, but will likely be delayed by a pending legal challenge. Ryder has a trial date set for March to determine whether he is competent for execution. His attorneys have argued that Ryder suffers from severe mental illness and should not be put to death. Ryder was sentenced to death for the 1999 killing of Daisy Hallum, who was bludgeoned to death in Pittsburg County. He was also sentenced to life-without-parole  for fatally shooting Sam Hallum.

Michael DeWayne Smith is scheduled to be executed on April 4 for the 2002 murders of Janet Moore and Sarath “Babu” Pulluru in Oklahoma City. 

Wade Greely Lay’s execution is set for June 6. Lay was sentenced to death for fatally shooting a security guard in 2004 during an attempted bank robbery in Tulsa. Lay has been diagnosed with schizophrenia. A trial is scheduled for May to determine whether he is too mentally ill to be executed. 

Oklahoma executions since 2021
Oct. 28, 2021: John Marion Grant
Dec. 9, 2021: Bigler Jobe Stouffer II
Jan. 27, 2022: Donald Anthony Grant
Feb. 17, 2022: Gilbert Postelle
Aug. 25, 2022: James Allen Coddington
Oct. 20, 2022: Benjamin Cole
Nov. 17, 2022: Richard Fairchild
Jan. 12, 2023: Scott Eizember
July 20, 2023: Jemaine Cannon
Sept 21, 2023: Anthony Sanchez

The post Governor Stitt weighs self-defense claims of man on death row appeared first on The Frontier.

A prisoner stabbed a correctional officer at the former Davis Correctional Facility the morning of Oct. 6, before a ceremony celebrating its renaming as the Allen Gamble Correctional Center. The Oklahoma Department of Corrections took over management of the medium-security prison from the private contractor CoreCivic at the beginning of October. 

The Holdenville prison, which houses about 1,600 male prisoners, has a history of chronic understaffing and violence. CoreCivic struggled to hire and keep enough correctional officers at the facility. The prison has lost more staff since the Department of Corrections took over. The Holdenville prison had 273 employees on Aug. 1, with 161 listed as detention officers, the Department of Corrections said. After the state takeover, only 106 correctional officers remained.

The Department of Corrections kept about 72% of the total staff, but some chose to stay with CoreCivic because the for-profit company paid higher wages and other workers couldn’t pass a state background check, said Kay Thompson, a spokeswoman for the Department of Corrections. CoreCivic advertises pay starting at $22.10 an hour for correctional officers while state correctional officers start at $42,553 a year, which equates to $20.46 an hour for a 40 hour work week. 

Bobby Cleveland, director of Oklahoma Corrections Professionals, a group that represents Department of Corrections employees, was at the prison on Oct. 6 when the stabbing occurred. Violence is a statewide problem that boils down to low staffing, he said. 

Cleveland described the low staffing and conditions as a “big mess.” He said the state prisons are short-handed, creating a dangerous environment.

The current prisoner-to-correctional officer ratio in Oklahoma prisons is 15:1. The Department of Corrections would like to get that number lowered and is working on increasing recruiting efforts, Thompson said. 

Comparatively, the Arkansas Department of Corrections says its current correctional officer staffing ratio is 1:8.

Better pay would help the agency recruit and keep more workers, Cleveland said. Department of Corrections employees got a raise in 2022, when correctional officers saw a 30% pay increase. Cleveland said another pay raise is needed for all correctional staff because it can be dangerous work. 

Ongoing problems with violence

During the dedication ceremony in Holdenville, Sen. Roger Thompson, R-Okemah, called the prison safe. 

“I’m thankful this facility is now becoming a safe facility. I’m thankful for our private partners … but as the state is able now to begin taking some of these facilities, I believe we can take them to the next level,” he said. 

Meanwhile, family members swarmed a Facebook live video of the ceremony with concerns about their loved ones serving time at the prison in Holdenville. Some complained that the Department of Corrections doesn’t share enough information with families when violent incidents occur.

“Please keep their lives as a priority. End the stabbings and deaths. That are swept under the rug,” Lydia Rollins wrote.

The Department of Corrections didn’t immediately release information about the stabbing. The only indication the officer had survived came after a Facebook commenter asked if he was OK. 

“He is. Thank you for your concern,” The agency wrote in response. 

Emily Shelton, founder of Hooked on Justice, an advocacy group dedicated to bringing community awareness to criminal justice issues, said Oklahoma prisons are unsafe due to low staffing, drugs, and prison tensions.

Shelton’s son and her husband are incarcerated at Oklahoma Department of Corrections facilities but previously spent time at a former private prison in Holdenville. 

“I fear every day that I will get a phone call telling me my loved one is dead,” she said. 

Stabbings have been an ongoing problem in Holdenville. Since January 2022, at least four people have been fatally stabbed at the facility, including three prisoners and one correctional officer. There were 18 stabbings at the Holdenville prison during the first seven months of 2022 alone, according to county emergency records.

Roger Thompson said in an email to The Frontier after the dedication that the assault before the ceremony was problematic. 

“With the number of incarcerated in our prison system, many of whom are very bad people, incidents will occur,” he wrote. “The very reason for the naming of the new facility was due to a violent incident where Mr. Gamble lost his life.”

Gamble died on June 5, 2000, after answering a distress call from another officer at Oklahoma State Reformatory in Granite. Officer William Callaway had been stabbed 13 times by a prisoner but managed to escape. Gamble was stabbed twice in the neck after he rushed to help and died from his injuries.

The post Another officer is stabbed as Oklahoma prisons struggle with staffing appeared first on The Frontier.

As Richard Glossip tries to dodge a 10th execution date, one state lawmaker is looking at the potential for a new moratorium on the death penalty over the convicted killer’s innocence claims.

Rep. Kevin McDugle, R-Broken Arrow, a former Marine and supporter of capital punishment, is hosting an interim study at the Oklahoma Capitol to lay out the evidence in Glossip’s case and consider restructuring the state’s capital punishment system.

“I think it’s gonna show what we’ve been saying all along, that we don’t have a mechanism right now in Oklahoma to make sure that an innocent person is not put to death,” McDugle said.

The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals ruled against Glossip, finding no grounds to vacate his sentence. 

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond doesn’t support a moratorium on executions, a spokesman said. 

McDugle believes Glossip’s case shows the system is flawed. 

McDugle said he wants to create a conviction integrity unit, which would review death penalty cases, but the idea has already failed twice in the Oklahoma Legislature. McDugle introduced a bill in  2021 to create the unit, which passed in the House of Representatives, but was never brought to a vote in the Senate. Rep. Justin Humphrey, R-Lane proposed similar legislation in 2022, but the bill never got a hearing. 

McDugle said he has no immediate plans to introduce new legislation.

Adam Luck, a former pardon and parole member who faced backlash for recommending clemency for death row prisoners, believes Oklahoma needs to implement a new moratorium. 

“With the significant number of executions that were scheduled in 2021, I think people are ready to talk about it,” Luck said. 

Luck believes a conviction integrity unit would ensure innocent people aren’t executed.

“There are no greater stakes than whether or not we should kill someone or let them live,” Luck said. “There is no greater decision our government can make than whether or not one of its citizens lives or dies.”

Glossip has maintained his innocence since his arrest for involvement in the 1997 slaying of Barry Van Treese. Glossip — the hotel manager — was accused of hiring his employee Justin Sneed to carry out the killing. Van Trees was found beaten to death inside room 102 at the Best Budget Inn in Oklahoma City.

Glossip has spent 26 years on death row, has had two trials, nine execution dates and three last meals. 

Sneed was sentenced to life without parole and remains in a medium-security prison. Sneed’s testimony that Glossip hired him to kill Van Treese was vital evidence in the case and conviction. However, Glossip’s legal team alleged Sneed was coerced into his confession by law enforcement and suffered from mental illness and substance abuse. 

Glossip has garnered support for his innocence from some state lawmakers and Drummond, who had his own investigators look into the case. 

The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board denied Glossip clemency in April after hearing from Van Treese’s family members, who described what it was like growing up without their husband, father and brother. 

At the clemency hearing, Carrie Jarbo, a niece of the murder victim, told reporters even though Glossip didn’t beat her uncle to death, he has never shown remorse, unlike Sneed, who she said had been remorseful. 

“And he has just continued to follow his lies throughout his life and that I believe — I don’t speak for everybody — but myself; that is why I feel like he is the right one to get the death penalty,” she said. 

Glossip was scheduled for his 9th execution date in May, but the U.S. Supreme Court granted him a temporary stay of execution to review the two petitions pending from Glossip’s legal team.

Drummond has argued in legal briefs there was prosecutorial misconduct and withheld evidence and Glossip’s capital sentence should not stand. 

Now the Van Treese family is waiting to hear whether the U.S. Supreme Court will consider Glossip’s case. The family has argued in a court filing that Glossip’s execution should be carried out without further delay. 

Derek Van Treese, the victim’s son, wrote in a  letter to the high court that the family has waited too long for justice. 

“Two juries, 24 members of the public, have listened to the same evidence. They have found Richard Glossip to be guilty of his charges and have rendered the same sentencing,” he wrote. “Countless appeals, reviews, and hundreds of thousands of dollars and man hours have been spent. “The time is now. I urge you, I beg you, to allow justice to finally be served through the word of law and the will of the people. Enough is enough.”

But McDugle believes there is enough evidence of Glossip’s innocence to halt capital punishment in Oklahoma. 

“Our court system is gonna have to get to the point that we admit mistakes when they’re made. And we take corrective action to fix those mistakes,” McDugle said. 

To completely do away with the death penalty, Oklahoma voters would first have to overturn a successful 2016 ballot measure that enshrined the right to perform executions in the state constitution. The measure passed with 66% of the vote. 

Oklahoma’s last death penalty moratorium lasted six years. Gov. Mary Fallin called for a pause on carrying out the death penalty after the botched execution of Clayton Lockett in 2014 and a mix-up that led to the state using the wrong drug in the lethal injection of Charles Warner in 2015. 

Once the moratorium was lifted in October 2021, Oklahoma set an intense schedule to put 25 people to death in less than two years — nearly one execution a month. 

The state has since since dialed back the pace of executions after former corrections employees sent Drummond a letter saying the schedule traumatized staff and left room for errors and possible botched executions.

Oklahoma was responsible for more than half the executions in the U.S. in 2022. The state was tied with Texas for the number of executions performed, according to a report released in December from the Death Penalty Information Center.

Oklahoma has executed 10 people in less than two years, with one more scheduled for 2023. 

The interim study is scheduled for 1 p.m. Thursday in Room 4S.5 at the Oklahoma Capitol.

Scheduled speakers: 

• Herman Lindsey, executive director of Witness to Innocence and Florida death row exoneree
• Adam Luck, senior advisor to Oklahoma Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty and former chairman of the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board
• Demetrius Minor, national manager of Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty
• Robert Dunham, director of the Death Penalty Policy Project
• Emma Rolls, first assistant Federal Public Defender and Capital Habeas Unit chief for the Western District of Oklahoma. 
•  Andy Lester, former U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Western District of Oklahoma and former Oklahoma Death Penalty Review Commission co-chairman.

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