Death penalty views still forming

Death penalty views still forming, AG says

05-05-2003

By Tim Talley
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ As a member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives in 1976, Drew Edmondson agonized over his vote to reauthorize Oklahoma's death penalty, which had been struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.
But after serving 12 years as Muskogee County District Attorney, where he investigated and prosecuted death penalty cases, Edmondson, now Oklahoma's attorney general, said voting for the death penalty would be a lot easier.

"I saw the bodies at the scene. I saw the bodies at the morgue," Edmondson said. "I sat this close to a person whose eyes were absolutely cold who I knew as sure as I was sitting there could kill me as easily as he could swat a fly.

"I became convinced after my tenure and experience in Muskogee that there are some people for as long as they live place other lives in danger. Society has a right of collective self defense against that kind of an individual," Edmondson said.

Since elected attorney general in 1994, Edmondson, president of the National Association of Attorneys General, has been a staunch supporter of the death penalty. But, in an interview with The Associated Press, Edmondson, 56, said his views about the death penalty are still forming.

"I expect they will continue to form as long as I am alive," he said.

Edmondson, a Democrat whose office supervises the death penalty appeals process for local district attorneys, advocated reforms that have cut lengthy death penalty appeals in half.

The result has been a marked increase in the number of executions in Oklahoma. In 2001, Oklahoma led the nation in executions with 18 death row inmates put to death by lethal injection, according to the Department of Corrections. Seven inmates have been executed so far this
year.

As district attorney, Edmondson witnessed the execution of a
defendant he had prosecuted.

"It was not disturbing," Edmondson said. "It was a very solemn moment. It was a powerful moment."

As attorney general, Edmondson, who created a victim assistance unit in the office, has traveled to the Oklahoma State Penitentiary at McAlester "dozens of times" to be with the families of victims when death row inmates are executed in Oklahoma's death chamber.

Michael Levy, chief of staff for Republican Lt. Gov. Mary Fallin, described Edmondson as "an evenhanded administrator of justice."

"I think most people see him as a strong advocate of the death penalty," Levy said. "He's been responsible and thorough in pursuing its application."

"I think Oklahomans support the death penalty," said state Rep. Stuart Ericson, R-Muskogee, himself a former Muskogee County prosecutor. "When Oklahoma juries dish out that punishment, I think he has done a great job in seeing it through."

In spite of his support, Edmondson said prosecutors should be more selective in how they applying the death penalty. He recommended that district attorneys review first-degree murder cases, the only crime punishable by death, using pre-established criteria that go beyond the statutory aggravating circumstances provided by state law.

Edmondson, re-elected to a third term last year, has beefed up his office's consumer protection division and has joined with other states to pursue alleged violations of consumer protection statutes by sweepstakes operators and pharmaceutical companies.

Edmondson spearheaded legislation that attacked price gouging after the May 3, 1999, tornadoes.

The consumer protection division received new duties last year when the Legislature approved Oklahoma's Don't Call telemarketing law. Edmondson's office administers the program and prosecutes violations.

Charges have been filed against five companies for violations of the new telemarketing law since enforcement began on Feb. 1. About 478,000 Oklahoma telephone customers have placed their numbers on the no-call list.

"Up until 1997 it had been reactive only, responding to about 13,000 consumer complaints a year," Edmondson said. "Since 1997, we've had an opportunity to become more proactive."

As Oklahoma's chief legal officer, Edmondson investigated allegations of corruption at the state Health Department and presided over a multicounty grand jury that indicted 14 former so-called "ghost employees" accused of being paid for doing little or no work.

A different multicounty grand jury is investigating new allegations of corruption at the state Tax Commission. So far, 15 people have been indicted.

"The investigation of the Tax Commission is certainly not over," Edmondson said. The grand jury investigation is scheduled to resume this month.

Although active in criminal investigations, Edmondson said he does not advocate consolidating Oklahoma's criminal justice agencies, including the Department of Public Safety and the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, into a Department of Justice run by the attorney general, similar to the federal government and some states.

However, the attorney general said he supports the consolidation of civil legal services to reduce legal costs. Edmondson said the proliferation of general counsel who work for individual state agencies "is not necessarily a good thing for the state of Oklahoma."

Levy, Fallin's chief of staff, said the idea would make government more efficient and effective.

"We appreciate his interest in restructuring government so we won't always have spending that far exceeds the money coming in," he said.

"I think we would save money and I think we would get more consistent advice and better advice to state agencies if that were all done under the auspices of the Attorney General," Edmondson said.

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Death penalty views still forming, AG says