OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma Board of Pardon and Parole on Wednesday voted to recommend clemency for a death row inmate who has admitted to beating to death a friend and co-worker who refused to loan him $50 to buy cocaine.
The board voted 3-2 to recommend Gov. Kevin Stitt grant clemency to James Coddington, 50, who was convicted and sentenced to die for killing 73-year-old Albert Hale inside Hale’s home in Choctaw in 1997. Coddington beat Hale on the head at least three times with a hammer.
Stitt said Wednesday that he hasn’t been formally briefed on Coddington’s case, but that with any clemency recommendation, he meets with prosecutors, defense attorneys and the victim’s family before making a decision.
“Sometimes there’s not even a question of guilt — they’re admitting it, but do they deserve mercy?” Stitt told The Associated Press. “Those are all tough questions. What does mercy look like? What does justice look like? And I really take that very seriously and get by myself once I get all the facts and make that decision.”
State Attorney General John O’Connor said in a statement that he will oppose the recommendation.
An emotional Coddington, who spoke by video and appeared on the verge of tears, apologized to the Hale family and told the board that he is a different man today.
“I’m clean, I know God, I’m not … I’m not a vicious murderer,” Coddington said.
“If this ends today with my death sentence, OK,” Coddington said before the vote.
Coddington said Hale tried to get him to stop using drugs and had been a friend and “for that he lost his life.”
Hale’s son, Mitch Hale, read statements from himself and sister, Patricia Carey, urging the board to reject the clemency request.
“Please give my dad justice and my family closure. Give James Coddington the same sentence he gave my dad,” according to the statement from Carey.
Hale told the board that he initially hated Coddington, but let go of the hatred.
“I forgive James Coddington, but my forgiveness does not release him from the consequences of his actions,” Hale said in urging the board to reject the clemency request.
Assistant Oklahoma Attorney General Caroline Hunt told the board that Coddington killed Hale to rob him and to avoid going to prison.
“There will be no justice if Mr. Coddington receives clemency from his death sentence,” Hunt said.
Defense Attorney Emma Rolls told the panel that Coddington, who was 24 at the time, was impaired by years of alcohol and drug abuse that…
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