Last week, the US state of Oklahoma executed James Coddington for his 1997 murder of 73-year-old Albert Hale.
A month earlier, Coddington fronted a five-person parole board, hoping to be granted a reprieve. Coddington, the panel was told, had been exposed to drug and alcohol abuse since he was an infant, and showed remorse for his crime. The panel recommended 3-2 that Coddington’s sentence be commuted to life imprisonment without prospect of parole, but the governor — who held the decision-making power — did not agree.
The victim’s son, Mitch Hale, said afterwards that Coddington “chose this path … he knew what the consequences are, he rolled the dice and lost.”
