Oklahoma governor rejects clemency for death row inmate

FILE - In this photo from a video screen, death row inmate James Coddington speaks to the Oklahoma Board of Pardon and Parole on Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022, in Oklahoma City. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt has rejected clemency for Coddington, who is facing execution for the 1997 hammer killing of a man. Stitt’s decision on Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2022, paves the way for Coddington to be executed by lethal injection on Thursday. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File) FILE - In this photo from a video screen, death row inmate James Coddington speaks to the Oklahoma Board of Pardon and Parole on Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022, in Oklahoma City. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt has rejected clemency for Coddington, who is facing execution for the 1997 hammer killing of a man. Stitt’s decision on Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2022, paves the way for Coddington to be executed by lethal injection on Thursday. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)

By SEAN MURPHY / Associated Press August 25, 2022 3 min read

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt on Wednesday rejected clemency for a man facing execution this week for the 1997 hammer killing of a Choctaw man, despite a recommendation from the state’s Pardon and Parole Board that his life be spared.

James Coddington was convicted and sentenced to die for the beating death of his friend and coworker, 73-year-old Albert Hale, inside Hale’s Choctaw home. Prosecutors say Coddington, who was 24 at the time, became enraged when Hale refused to give him money to buy cocaine.

Coddington’s execution is scheduled for Thursday morning.

“After thoroughly reviewing arguments and evidence presented by all sides of the case, Governor Kevin Stitt has denied the Pardon and Parole Board’s clemency recommendation for James Allen Coddington,” Stitt’s office said in a statement.