Oklahoma Governor Rejects Clemency for Death Row Inmate

Oklahoma Governor Rejects Clemency for Death Row Inmate
Death row inmate James Coddington speaks to the Oklahoma Board of Pardon and Parole in Oklahoma City on Aug. 3, 2022, in a still from video. Sue Ogrocki/AP Photo
The Associated Press
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OKLAHOMA CITY—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.