FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 4th, 2020
District Attorney Laura Austin Thomas announced today that she had filed objections in four matters pending before the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board. Additionally, Thomas announced she had filed a request to have the Board Chairman disqualify two members of the Board from hearing cases arising out of District Nine, Payne and Logan Counties.
Kelly Doyle and Adam Luck were appointed to the Pardon and Parole Board by Governor Kevin Stitt in 2019. Kelly Doyle is employed as the Deputy Executive Director of a company called Center for Employment Opportunities which provides employment and training for persons who have recently been released from incarceration, many on probation or parole. Adam Luck serves on the Board of Directors for the Center for Employment Opportunities. Additionally, both Doyle and Luck have had editorials published in major Oklahoma newspapers supporting SQ 805, a criminal justice reform measure. While service on the Pardon and Parole Board is not a full time job, members do receive from $22,800 to $24,800 per year, in taxpayer dollars, as compensation for their duties. Thomas argues these two Board members cannot be expected to impartially consider parole and commutation requests when they are actually employing or about to employ persons whose applications are being considered. “As a sitting DA, it would obviously be inappropriate for someone in my position to sit on this Board. Persons who practice felony criminal defense in the State are prohibited from sitting on the Board. We are simply saying these two people come to the consideration of these cases from a biased perspective. Victims, and others who are protesting early release, can’t help but doubt whether these two Board members will fairly consider their arguments.”
Thomas objected to parole, a form of early release, for three convicted murderers on this month’s docket. Charlton Cole was convicted in Payne County, in 1998, for killing his two year old child. He received a sentence of Life imprisonment based upon a plea agreement with the State. Douglas Gray was convicted in Logan County, in 1988, for the murder of a young Guthrie teacher. He received a sentence of Life imprisonment after pleading guilty without an agreement with the State of Oklahoma. James Davis was originally convicted in Payne County in a 1987 case for the murder of an OSU student outside a Stillwater tavern. The student was beaten to death with a baseball bat; Davis then went to the victim’s house, spent the night and stole his personal belongings. Davis was originally convicted by a jury and received the death sentence. The case was reversed on appeal because the jury was allowed to see Davis in shackles in the courtroom. It appeared courtroom personnel were afraid of him. After remand, Davis agreed to plead guilty to a sentence of life imprisonment plus 35 years. All three of these cases were decided before Oklahoma law provided a sentence option of Life without Parole.
Thomas objected to commutation for Breyannah Kinnard-Rivers. Commutation reconsiders the sentence originally imposed and replaces it with a different sentence. Kinnard-Rivers was convicted of three counts of Child Abuse by Injury and two counts of Child Abuse by Failure to Protect from Harm in 2018, after pleading guilty without an agreement with the D.A.’s Office as to punishment. The case arose in August, 2016, when defendant’s three children were discovered at a Stillwater apartment complex beaten and malnourished. Thomas said, “These crimes are designated by law as 85% crimes, meaning an inmate must serve 85% of the sentence before they can be considered for parole. Judges and juries believe this law and take it into account when they impose sentences. The current Pardon and Parole Board is considering commutations as a way to get around the 85% requirement. They are also considering commutations for persons who receive sentences of Life without the Possibility of Parole. Earlier this year, they voted to commute a defendant serving a jury imposed sentence of Life without the Possibility of Parole to 20 years. That recommendation is on the Governor’s desk and we have strongly protested it. We are very opposed to this practice as it violates state and federal guarantees of separation of powers and the right of the Legislature to establish punishment for crimes. The Board is supposed to be neutral. However, it appears some on the Board are using their positions to further their own stated political agendas and personal belief systems.”
Thomas added, “We do not object to all applications for parole. We have not objected to commutations when the basis was changes in the law since the original sentence was ordered, such as drug offenders and other non-violent offenders whose crimes are now misdemeanors. Nonetheless, in 2020 alone, we have objected in multiple, serious cases from Payne and Logan Counties where inmates were being considered for parole or commutation. This is a constant battle to re-litigate cases that took prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, juries and appellate courts months and even years to shepherd through the system. Now we are required to go back with very short notice and try to educate this unelected Board on what really happened in these cases. The least we should be able to expect is a Board that is not already biased against us. This has got to stop. They have gone way too far, and public safety and the verdicts and sentences of judges and juries are being attacked on a monthly basis with protestors given less than 10 minutes to present their objections.”
Thomas said many questions arise when considering the appointment of Doyle and Luck. “The conflict of interest is clear and concerning. How many offenders, already released on GPS or about to be released, go to work for this company Doyle and Luck are associated with? Before their appointments, how many clients ended up in their program? Since their appointments to the Board, how many clients have they received? It is fundamentally wrong to vote on the release of offenders they are employing or may employ. How is this company funded? What kind of money flows through it and where did it come from? Regardless of how you feel about the company’s mission, these people have no business on this Board.”
