Oklahoma board takes unusual action in case of man never proven to have killed anyone

In a highly unusual move, the Oklahoma Board of Pardons and Paroles voted Wednesday to recommend clemency for Tremane Wood, a man sentenced to death for a murder his brother admitted to committing.

The 3-2 vote was a surprising result in a case in which Oklahoma’s attorney general intervened personally to try to secure Wood’s execution. The decision on whether to grant clemency to Wood now rests with Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R), who has only one man was saved of the execution since he took office as governor in 2019. Wood also asked the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals and the Supreme Court to review his allegations of prosecutorial misconduct and stay his execution, which is currently scheduled for Nov. 13.

As News themezone reported in two previous editions feature storiesWood’s case is marked by accusations that his death sentence was the result of foul play by his badly shaken trial attorney and prosecutors. Despite the common belief that the lengthy appeals process in capital cases ensures that constitutional violations at trial will be rectified before the execution date, Wood has been denied relief at every turn.

Nick Oxford for News themezone

In 2002, Wood, his older brother and two women were charged with first-degree murder for killing a man named Ronnie Wipf during a botched robbery. Wipf died from a single stab wound, but under the state’s so-called felony murder statute, prosecutors did not have to prove who actually killed him to obtain murder convictions, only that each of them participated in the robbery that led to his death.

At Wood’s trial, prosecutors argued that he stabbed Wipf, only to change his story at his brother’s trial the following year and argue that the brother was the killer. Wood, who denied stabbing Wipf, was represented by a lawyer battling drug addiction who did almost no work on the case, and was sentenced to death. His older brother, who testified that he killed Wipf, had a competent death penalty team of public defenders and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Wood’s attorney, who died in 2018, admitted client negligence associated with substance abuse, which led to him temporarily losing his law license after representing Wood. Two of his former clients had their death sentences overturned for lack of legal counsel, but courts have repeatedly denied Wood’s appeals for a new trial on procedural grounds.

Earlier this year, Wood and his attorneys uncovered evidence that prosecutors lied to jurors about incentives offered to two of their witnesses in exchange for their testimony. Still, District Judge Susan Stallings denied Wood relief, issuing a ruling that was nearly identical to the state’s proposed version. In recent weeks, details about the relationship between Stallings and Fern Smith, one of the prosecutors accused of misconduct in Wood’s trial, have shed light on Stallings’ actions.

Stallings worked for Smith in the Oklahoma County District Attorney’s Office right out of law school and has aforementioned Smith as a guiding influence on his career. In court proceedings in a separate case, Smith revealed that she and Smith vacationed together in Spain, Las Vegas and England in the 1990s. Smith also testified that in May Stallings emailed her a copy of the ruling clearing Smith of misconduct. In the email exchange, which News themezone has reviewed, Smith praises Stallings’ “thorough analysis and well-reasoned opinion.” In response, Stallings says, “Which I can’t take credit for. It’s the findings proposed by the [attorney general’s] office. “They did an exceptional job.”

Despite the well-documented problems in Wood’s case, state Attorney General Gentner Drummond, who is running for governor in tough on crime platformhas taken extraordinary measures to try to prevent Wood from receiving mercy. Over the summer, Drummond secretly asked Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals Chief Judge Gary Lumpkin, who was overseeing Wood’s case, to postpone Wood’s execution date to give the attorney general’s office more time to build a criminal case related to the contraband phones found in Wood’s cell. After initially considering the application, Lumpkin reminded Drummond that he could only consider applications submitted in a court docket. Drummond refused to do so, stating that he did not want to “warn Mr Wood about the nature of the investigation”.

Drummond’s office never charged Wood with any crimes related to the phones. But his presentation at the pardon hearing He relied heavily on texts and photographs allegedly recovered from Wood’s phones to accuse him of using and selling drugs, being an active gang member and organizing the beating of another prisoner who Wood said killed his cousin.

“His pattern of violence and deceit has not ceased, he has simply adapted. The same vicious intent that drove his original crimes endures today, revealing a hardened and unrepentant mind driven by deception and a complete disregard for human life,” Drummond said at the hearing. “The danger remains as clear and present as ever, and no prison, no prison cell, will protect society from their continued evil acts.”

“The murder of Ronnie Wipf is a horrible reminder of how cruel and calculating an individual can be, and the evidence proves that Tremane Wood was Ronnie’s executioner,” Drummond said.

Stalling, Smith and Lumpkin did not respond to requests for comment on News themezone’s earlier report on the case. Drummond’s office previously declined to comment on his handling of the contraband phones, but said Wood received a fair trial.

During the hearing, Wood’s attorney, Amanda Bass Castro Alves, explained to the board the various legal issues in Wood’s case and the fact that Wipf’s parents and the surviving robbery victim oppose Wood’s execution. Wood’s presentation included quotes from Barbara Wipf, the victim’s mother, to News themezone expressing his desire that the state allow Wood to live.

Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board

“The compassion and mercy that the victims of this case have extended to Tremane, rooted in their life-affirming Christian values ​​and their recognition that we have all fallen short, is nothing short of transformative,” Bass Castro Alves said. “Mrs Wipf and Arnold [Kleinsasser] “They are showing Tremane, and indeed, they are showing us all, that even when irreparable harm has been inflicted, there is a path forward beyond revenge, a path forward that is instead paved by forgiveness, compassion and mercy.” (Kleinsasser, a friend of Wipf, is a surviving victim of the botched robbery.)

But when a board member asked why the victims were not present, Deputy Attorney General Christina Burns did not acknowledge the victims’ opposition to the execution. “Our understanding of the victims’ position in this case is that they did not want to get involved. They also wanted justice to be done and left that in the hands of the Attorney General’s Office to seek justice for Mr. Wood.”

Cindy Birdwell, Wood’s sixth-grade teacher, told the board that she remembered Wood as a “bright-eyed” boy who brought her a handmade Valentine’s Day card that was almost as tall as he was. “I have since learned that Tremane came to school carrying pain that a little boy should never have had to endure. He was a victim of abuse — sexual, physical, emotional — and I never knew it,” Birdwell said. “I’ve carried a lot of guilt for that.”

Wood’s niece, Brooklyn Wood, 17, described Wood as her family’s “glue” and her “best friend,” who helped her overcome bullying, self-harm and severe depression. “All I can ask of you is to put yourself in my shoes, where you are about to lose your best friend and the only person who keeps you awake and active in the morning. I always look forward to that one 20-minute phone call,” he said. “All I ask is that you, as a clemency board, forgive my uncle.”

Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board

At the end of the hearing, Wood was given 20 minutes to speak. He described the crime as “the biggest regret of my life” and took responsibility for his role in the robbery that led to Wipf’s death.

“It should never have happened,” Wood said. “I had the power to say no that night and say, ‘We’re not going to do this.’ I could have prevented Ronnie’s death. I could have prevented Arnold from being in that situation and the trauma he suffered. All the damage caused by that night, which destroyed both his family and mine, was preventable. And I’m the one who could have prevented it. Having the courage to stand up and be brave and say no that night, and say no, I could have prevented all of this from happening. And for not doing that. I’m sorry. a lot.”

“I’m not a monster, I’m not a murderer,” Wood continued. “I never was and never have been. The person I am deep down is a son, a brother, a father, an uncle, a friend and a grandfather, something I never thought I would live to experience.”

He closed with a plea: “I ask you, members of the board of directors, to see something in my life that is worthwhile.”