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Wanda Jean Allen
After all the anti-death penalty appeals and
demonstrations on Wanda Jean Allen's behalf, a decision on whether
she will die at 9 p.m. today may lie in the hands of a capital
punishment supporter. Gov. Frank Keating has agreed to consider a
stay based on the narrow issue of whether the Oklahoma Pardon and
Parole Board had enough information regarding Allen's
education.
He met with Rev. Jesse Jackson Thursday and planned a meeting with
Attorney General Drew Edmondson before making a decision.Also today,
Allen's lawyers told an appeals court Thursday that clemency
hearings in Oklahoma and across the country will be a sham if the
court refuses to stay her execution. "Prosecutors will be free to do
whatever they wish, presenting with impunity false evidence and
testimony," Allen's lawyers told the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals in an emergency request.
The lawyers, Steven M. Presson and Robert Wade Jackson of Norman,
faxed their written arguments all through the night to the
Denver-based court after U.S. District Judge Tim Leonard ruled
against Allen on Wednesday. Her lawyers contend that government
attorneys intentionally mislead the clemency board a month ago by
falsely stating that Allen could not be mentally retarded because
she was a high school and junior college graduate. Presson and
Jackson said the 10th Circuit court will be the first in the nation
to decide if a death row inmate's rights have been violated when
state officials mislead a clemency board.
"The federal courts "have not defined what the lowest level of due
process should be (in a clemency proceeding)," the lawyers said.
Asked whether he would stop the execution, Keating told CNN, at
noon, "Well, I don't know. "I have no authority to reduce the death
sentence. What I theoretically could do is send it back to the
clemency board." Jackson said that his meeting with Keating was
amicable and that they had a good discussion. "The power is in his
hands," Jackson said.
Allen's attorneys have pointed to her score, a 69, on an IQ test she
took in the 1970s, arguing she is in the range of mental
retardation. Prosecutors said Allen testified during the penalty
phase of her trial that she had graduated from U.S. Grant High
School and received a medical assistant certificate from Rose Sate
College. As it turns out, Allen dropped out of high school at 16 and
never finished course work in the medical assistant program.
Aides to the governor, an ardent proponent of the death penalty,
said Keating promised to be fair-minded when he spoke to state Rep.
Opio Toure and the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who was taken into custody on
trespassing complaints Wednesday night after a peaceful
demonstration at the women's prison where Allen was being held.
Jackson was released from Oklahoma County Jail at 8:30 a.m.
Thursday. He said he hoped Keating would stop the execution, but if
not, he wanted to give her personal support. "She must not die in
the dark," Jackson said. "She must not die alone. We intend to be
with her all the way."
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