{"id":107339,"date":"2024-09-27T00:49:28","date_gmt":"2024-09-26T17:49:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=107339"},"modified":"2024-09-27T00:49:28","modified_gmt":"2024-09-26T17:49:28","slug":"oklahoma-executes-a-man-for-a-1992-killing-despite-board-recommending-his-life-be-spared","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=107339","title":{"rendered":"Oklahoma executes a man for a 1992 killing despite board recommending his life be spared"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>McALESTER, Okla. (AP) \u2014 Oklahoma executed a man Thursday for his role in the 1992 fatal shooting of a convenience store owner after the governor again rejected a <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/oklahoma-execution-littlejohn-clemency-death-penalty-368fb076d99814e3befa0b8de7a1d232\">recommendation from the state\u2019s parole board<\/a><\/span> to spare a death row inmate\u2019s life.<\/p>\n<p>Emmanuel Littlejohn, 52, received a lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary and was declared dead at 10:17 a.m. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cA jury found him guilty and sentenced him to death,\u201d Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt said in a statement explaining why he declined to commute Littlejohn\u2019s sentence to life in prison without parole. \u201cAs a law and order governor, I have a hard time unilaterally overturning that decision.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Stitt has granted clemency only once out of the five times that the parole board has recommended it during Stitt\u2019s nearly six years in office. Oklahoma has carried out 14 executions under Stitt, having resumed them in 2021 after a more than six-year hiatus. <\/p>\n<p>In voting 3-2 last month to recommend clemency, the board appeared to be moved by questions Littlejohn\u2019s lawyers raised about whether he or a co-defendant fired the shot that killed Kenneth Meers. Littlejohn\u2019s attorneys also suggested the jury was unclear about whether a sentence of life without parole would guarantee someone would never be released.<\/p>\n<p>His lethal injection came just two days after the <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/missouri-execution-marcellus-williams-fd7279d8e885bac17658a66f6f72b5c7\">execution of Marcellus Williams<\/a><\/span> in Missouri, where advocates insisted Williams was innocent.<\/p>\n<p>Strapped to a gurney and with an IV line in his right arm, Littlejohn looked toward his mother and daughter, who witnessed the execution.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMom, you OK?\u201d Littlejohn asked. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m OK,\u201d his mother, Ceily Mason, responded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEverything is going to be OK. I love you,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Mason sobbed quietly and clutched a cross necklace during the lethal injection, which began shortly after 10 a.m. Littlejohn\u2019s breathing became labored before a doctor declared him unconscious at 10:07 a.m. He was pronounced dead 10 minutes later.<\/p>\n<p>Littlejohn\u2019s spiritual advisor, the Rev. Jeff Hood, was inside the death chamber and prayed over him.<\/p>\n<p>Steven Harpe, the director of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, said the lethal injection went without any problems.<\/p>\n<p>If an execution set for <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/alabama-nitrogen-gas-death-penalty-alan-miller-4bc1048bd64c1272c23bceb76199766f\">Thursday evening in Alabama<\/a><\/span> is carried out, it would mark the first time in decades that <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/executions-oklahoma-alabama-missouri-texas-south-carolina-d77a31bea7a4839424afc8889c7d8755\">five death row inmates<\/a><\/span> were put to death in the U.S. within one week. The five executions would also mark another grim milestone \u2014 1,600 executions since the death penalty was reinstated by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1976, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.<\/p>\n<p>Littlejohn was 20 when prosecutors say he and co-defendant Glenn Bethany robbed the Root-N-Scoot convenience store in south Oklahoma City in June 1992. <\/p>\n<p>During video testimony to the Pardon and Parole Board in early August, Littlejohn apologized to Meers\u2019 family but denied firing the fatal shot. Littlejohn\u2019s attorneys pointed out that the same prosecutor tried Bethany and Littlejohn in separate trials using a nearly identical theory, even though there was only one shooter and one bullet that killed Meers, 31.<\/p>\n<p>But prosecutors told the board that two teenage store employees who witnessed the robbery both said Littlejohn, not Bethany, fired the fatal shot. Bethany was sentenced to life in prison without parole.<\/p>\n<p>Littlejohn\u2019s attorneys also argued that killings resulting from a robbery are rarely considered death penalty cases and that prosecutors today would not have pursued the ultimate punishment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is evident that Emmanuel would not have been sentenced to death if he\u2019d been tried in 2024 or even 2004,\u201d attorney Caitlin Hoeberlein told the board.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>Stitt previously <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/oklahoma-fe2d55dcf037f34ee0a545eb688fce52\">asked one of his appointees<\/a><\/span> to the parole board, Adam Luck, to step down after Luck voted several times to recommend clemency.<\/p>\n<p>The only time Stitt has granted clemency was in 2021, when he commuted <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/executions-oklahoma-julius-jones-commutation-1e212e0db47f598ccb9c97fd611df929\">Julius Jones\u2019<\/a><\/span> death 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: <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/lawsuits-executions-oklahoma-b39765a63877867fc4d14aceea090de5\">Bigler Stouffer<\/a><\/span>, <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/oklahoma-city-albert-hale-34dc29abe23b8d4d1e73a03fd81fc20e\">James Coddington<\/a><\/span> and <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/oklahoma-execution-clemency-recommendation-hancock-95f2cffdbe19dbd5870c4059fe43625f\">Phillip Hancock<\/a><\/span>, all of whom were executed.<\/p>\n<p>A state appellate court on Wednesday denied a last-minute legal challenge from Littlejohn\u2019s attorneys to the constitutionality of the state\u2019s lethal injection method of execution. A similar appeal filed in federal court also was rejected Thursday.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script>\n  window.fbAsyncInit = function() {\n      FB.init({\n              appId : '870613919693099',\n          xfbml : true,\n          version : 'v2.9'\n      });\n  };\n  (function(d, s, id){\n     var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];\n     if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;}\n     js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;\n     js.src = \"https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/sdk.js\";\n     fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);\n   }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1660802\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/oklahoma-execution-emmanuel-littlejohn-7b6822bb3ad19122a903f9e215797646\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>McALESTER, Okla. (AP) \u2014 Oklahoma executed a man Thursday for his role in the 1992 fatal shooting of a convenience store owner after the governor again rejected a recommendation from &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=107339\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8629],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-107339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-u-s","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=107339"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107339\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=107339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=107339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=107339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}