Tremane Wood's brother, Andre, says he has talked to more reporters in the past few weeks than in his whole life.
"People in Oklahoma don't understand the severity and finality of death row until you have someone on there," he said after the Pardon and Parole Board voted to recommend clemency for his brother last week.
Right now, his brother is under 24-hour surveillance at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. He's awaiting a decision from Gov. Kevin Stitt, who has final say on whether he will be the next man executed on Oklahoma's death row.
Andre said he can't imagine what it's like to be sitting in a holding cell, feet away from the execution chamber. He said he and his family members are doing everything they can to ask Stitt to show mercy.
"We have less than 48 hours before my brother is executed. And we, as the family, just ask Governor Stitt to please look at everything that was done in this trial that shows that my brother was not, did not receive a fair trial," Andre said to reporters gathered at the OKC First Church off the NW Expressway.
Parole board members voted 3-2 to recommend clemency for Wood, citing possible prosecutorial misconduct and an ineffective trial attorney who was struggling with substance abuse.
Wood's attorneys said his trial lawyer, Johnny Albert, only billed two total hours for his work on the case, and later sent a letter to Wood in prison apologizing for his mistakes.
Faith and conservative leaders gathered to display their support for Wood's plea for clemency. Brett Farley, the executive director of the Catholic Conference of Oklahoma, said he had the chance to spend an hour with Tremane over the weekend.
"Tremane told me repeatedly that he deserves to be held accountable for his actions, and that he owns up to what he's done wrong," Farley said. "But he also deserves what all of us would expect, and that's a fair trial. He deserves justice. But when prosecutors essentially bribe witnesses to give false testimony, that's not justice.
"When prosecutors collude with judges to arrive at a preordained conviction, that's not justice. When the state appoints a defense attorney who suffers from extreme substance abuse, that's clearly not justice. When juries are not properly instructed and not shown critical evidence, that's absolutely not justice."
Farley said "the worst kind of injustice" is when top officials in the state "engage in unlawful and unethical behavior for the purpose of character assassination."
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond has staunchly opposed Wood's request for clemency and appeared before the parole board, asking them to deny it.
"Tremane's story, mindset, behavior, have not changed," Drummond said. "The danger remains as clear and present as ever and no prison, no prison cell, will protect society from his evil and ongoing deeds."
State prosecutors pulled up pictures of Wood holding up gang signs and read text messages from contraband cell phones that show Wood distributed drugs and ordered a hit on another inmate while in prison.
In a press release after the board's vote, Drummond said his office would continue to pursue justice for Ronnie Wipf, who was killed in the 2002 stabbing for which Wood was prosecuted.
"We intend to make our case to the governor on why clemency should not be granted and why the death sentence, as determined by a jury, should be carried out," Drummond wrote.
Abegail Cave, a spokesperson for Stitt's office, said the governor will follow the same process he does after every clemency recommendation.
"He will meet with the defendant's attorneys, the attorney general's office, and the victim's family to ensure he has all the information needed to make a decision," Cave said. "He does not take the process lightly."
During his seven years in office, Stitt has granted clemency only one time for the high-profile case of Julius Jones. He has rejected clemency in four other cases, and a total of 16 men have been executed during his tenure.
This report was produced by the Oklahoma Public Media Exchange, a collaboration of public media organizations. Help support collaborative journalism by donating at the link at the top of this webpage.
