The Oklahoma Coalition To Abolish the Death Penalty held its 28th Annual Meeting and Awards Dinner on the evening of Friday, June 8, 2019, at the Capital View Events Center on Lincoln Boulevard in Oklahoma City. The attendees were handed buttons that featured the words “Death Penalty” with a line drawn through them and a program that detailed the evening’s events, and told of how the organization was founded in 1976 and officially incorporated in 1987. The Coalitions members constitute a diverse body of religious organizations, including the Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, Council of American -Islamic Relations ,and other entities and associations. That document also told of how in the past year two individuals, Leslie Fitzhugh and Jimmy Lawson, who were formerly residing at the state’s Death Row in the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester have been officially exonerated for the murders that led to them receiving the death penalty. The Reverend Don Heath, the Chairman of the Coalition, began the event by mentioning some of the entities that had sponsored the tables that had resulted in the event being sold out and also referenced some of the prominent individuals who were present who have played a role in opposing capital punishment in Oklahoma. The Invocation was delivered by Rev Davies of the First Unitarian Church of OKC, who quoted the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun who had written that he knew that the “death penalty has failed”, and while he might not live to see its end in the U.S. he knew that it would be eventually abolished. A list of those who had been executed in the U.S. in the past year was read and as each name was pronounced a bell was rung. Keynote speaker Vanessa Potkin of the Innocence Project was introduced by Vickie Behanna who told of how Potkin’s work has resulted in the exoneration of thirty people, five of whom were on death row. The Innocence Project Director shared with the attendees a brief excerpt from her video “The Last Defense,” that detailed the work that her entity has done. She also thanked those present who had worked on the case of Julius Jones, and spoke of wrongful convictions and their affects on the criminal justice system. Oklahoma was the last state to allow DNA testing for those previously convicted, but it has proven difficult to gain access to that form of testing in the state’s courts. Their clients who have been exonerated , she said are “The luckiest of the unlucky people.” Close to 70% of the exonerations were the result of erroneous eye witness testimony, she reported, false confessions, false scientific evidence, and incentivized witnesses, who had a reason to falsely identify perpetrators. The advocate told of how 900,000 arrests have been voided in New York City due to their not being in compliance with the law. Racism also plays a significant role in wrongful arrests and convictions, her research has revealed. Potkin asserted that of the 2,700 people currently on death row in the U.S., at least 4.5% of them may be innocent.
She also spoke of her involvement in the case of Julius Jones of Oklahoma, and the deal that his co-defendant received for testifying against him, and that they jury wasn’t told of the truly lenient nature of that deal. Jones had been a National Merit Scholar who had an outstanding high school athlete in Edmond .The Oklahoma . Death Penalty Review Commission concluded a moratorium on the death penalty was warranted, Potkin reported, because there was a danger of innocent people being put to death. She also spoke of the fraudulent evidence that has often brought into Oklahoma courts by forensic evidence witnesses, and that many defense attorneys are inexperienced in capital cases, and did not adequately present witnesses that could have helped their client’s cases.
After Potkin concluded her presentation, what were termed “Abolitionists Awards” were bestowed on several individuals who have worked to end capital punishment, and one was awarded to the recently deceased Jim Rowan and was designated the “Lifetime Abolitionist Award” that was accepted with gratitude by his widow, Sherry Rowan.
Against the Grain 