OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty has cut ties with a national organization and its partner, saying they are driving a wedge between death-row inmates and their attorneys.
In July, death-row inmate Anthony C. Sanchez, in a highly unusual move, said he would forego a clemency hearing because the process is unfair.
Sanchez faces a Sept. 21 execution for the 1996 murder of University of Oklahoma dance student and ballerina Juli Busken, 21.
His spiritual advisor is the Rev. Jeff Hood, who is based in Arkansas and is a close partner with Death Penalty Action, a nonprofit incorporated in New York.
The Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty accused Hood of persuading Sanchez to waive his right to a clemency hearing and to represent himself in further legal action.
The Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty said DPA and Hood use tactics that drive a wedge between clients facing imminent execution and their legal teams.
Hood said the attorneys and the coalition are responsible for the “slaughter” of death-row inmates in Oklahoma.
He said the statement put out by the local group is “nothing more than a fart in a whirlwind,” adding that he and DPA have no plans to change their tactics.
The coalition said attorneys in the Capital Habeas Unit of the Federal Public Defender’s Office are the inmates’ best hope for avoiding execution.
“I have attended all clemency hearings before the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board since the moratorium on executions was lifted two years ago,” said the Rev. Don Heath, Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty chairman. “I have been impressed with the thoughtfulness and subtlety of the presentations by all of the habeas attorneys. They made better arguments than I would have thought possible.”
The organization works with the attorneys to coordinate press conferences and strategy to tell each inmate’s story in upcoming clemency hearings.
Health said his organization has worked with Death Penalty Action since about 2016 but hasn’t been able to work with them in the last six months because of actions the national group has taken.
“He (Hood) tries to separate every inmate he counsels from their attorneys,” Heath said. “He thinks he knows the case better or can find an attorney that will do a better job. That is just not true.”
Hood was the spiritual advisor for Creek County killer Scott Eizember, who was put to death in January for the 2003 killing of A.J. Cantrell. Eizember, who also killed Cantrell’s wife, Patsy Cantrell, was subject to one of the largest manhunts in state history.
“We are part of a broad social justice movement, and sometimes we don’t all agree on tactics,” said Abraham Bonowitz, Death Penalty Action executive director. “That’s OK. They raise money for funerals. We are focused on stopping executions.”
Hood has worked with at least five Oklahoma prisoners, some of whom are fine with their legal counsel, but others ask Hood if he can help them find new attorneys, Bonowitz said.
“He’s like Jesus overturning the tables of the money changers, and that’s upset some people and challenged the status quo,” Bonowitz said. “Jeff has done nothing illegal, immoral or unethical, and if he did we would not be standing with him.”
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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."
— Oscar Wilde
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."
— Oscar Wilde