In an intelligent move on Wednesday, March 6, 2024, an Oklahoma state panel firmly rejected clemency for Michael Dewayne Smith. Smith is a 41-year-old death row inmate responsible for the brutal shooting of Janet Moore, 41, and Sharath Pulluru, 22.
Notably, the shooting happened in separate incidents in Oklahoma City over two decades ago. The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted 4-1 against recommending clemency. This cleared the path for Smith’s imminent execution by lethal injection on April 4, 2024.
Exhausting all appeal avenues, Smith’s fate now stands sealed for the heinous crimes committed in February 2002. In a video interview conducted on death row, Smith expressed his remorse and apologized to the grieving families.
Despite occasional tears punctuating his 15-minute address to the board, Smith denied guilt for the crimes. He stated, “I didn’t commit these crimes. I didn’t kill these people. I was high on drugs and don’t even remember getting arrested.”
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According to prosecutors, Smith is a ruthless gang member responsible for the deaths of Janet Moore and Sharath Pulluru. Furthermore, they assert that Smith committed these acts by confessing to law enforcement and two other individuals.
The prosecution’s narrative says Smith targeted Moore due to a mistaken belief that her son disclosed his location to the police. This led to a vendetta against Moore. Later that same day, they allege that Smith killed Pulluru, a convenience store clerk.
Prosecutors claim that Smith perceived Pulluru’s actions as disrespecting his gang during an interview with a newspaper reporter. During Wednesday’s hearing, prosecutors from the Oklahoma attorney general’s office presented a video of Smith’s confession.
In the video, Smith stated, “I didn’t come there to kill that woman. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.” Smith’s attorney, Mark Henricksen, argued that his client is intellectually unstable. He noted that it’s a condition exacerbated by years of substantial drug use.
Henrickson advocated for sparing Smith’s life. He proposed that he should spend his remaining days in prison. Furthermore, Henricksen contended that they should view Smith’s confession with skepticism, asserting that crucial elements of the confession lack factual support.
Henricksen emphasized, “At the time of these homicides, he was smoking PCP daily and heavily.” He further pointed out that Smith’s trial attorney did not present crucial evidence of his intellectual disability to the jurors.
Contrarily, prosecutors contested Henricksen’s assertions regarding Smith’s intellectual capacity. They contended that he still poses a threat to society. Additionally, they cited instances of finding Smith with weapons on death row as recently as 2019.
Moreover, they highlighted ongoing communication with gang members. Assistant Attorney General Aspen Layman asserted, “He has expressed a desire to kill more.” Unless a court stops Smith’s scheduled lethal injection, he will become the first inmate executed in Oklahoma in 2024.
Notably, this would mark the 12th execution in the state since the resumption of executions in October 2021. This was after a nearly six-year hiatus due to complications with lethal injections in 2014 and 2015.
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