Governor Brad Henry, Don't Execute a Potentially Innocent Person

Just two days from now, Jeffrey Matthews is scheduled to be executed in Oklahoma for a crime of which he may be innocent. Evidence thought to have been lost was just discovered and Matthews' defense team is seeking a 60-day reprieve to allow time to resolve the issues raised by the reappearance of this evidence. Matthews' fate is now in the hands of Governor Brad Henry (D) who has the authority to grant the reprieve.

Oklahoma death row inmate Jeffrey Matthews is scheduled to be executed Thursday, June 17, 2010 at 6 pm, for his alleged participation in the murder of Otis Earl Short. According to the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, he may very well be innocent of the crime.

The offense involved a 1994 burglary of a home occupied by a husband and wife, in which the husband was killed and the wife wounded. The State's theory of the crime, as supported by the wife's testimony, was that there were two perpetrators. One of the perpetrators, Tracy Dyer, was identified quickly by police and it is undisputed he was present. Dyer made a traceable phone call from within the residence, his fingerprints were found in the home, and he confessed to being there. Dyer was convicted and received a life sentence with possibility of parole. He is up for parole next year.

The State convicted Jeff Matthews based on circumstantial evidence. Despite the conviction resting solely on circumstantial evidence, Matthews was sentenced to death. Some of this circumstantial evidence has been questioned by the prosecution's own investigator and a former deputy sheriff involved in the case. The former deputy sheriff spoke on behalf of Mr. Matthews at his May 26, 2010 clemency hearing, where the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board denied clemency by a 3 to 2 vote.

Dyer has both exonerated and implicated Mr. Matthews in various statements he has given. Unlike Dyer, however, Matthews' fingerprints were not found at the crime scene. In fact, no forensic evidence of any kind - no blood, no DNA, no fingerprints, no gunshot residue, no hair or fiber evidence - has ever been identified to link Mr. Matthews to the crime. Importantly, multiple fingerprints were collected at the scene that were never identified. Mr. Matthews sought to have these fingerprints compared to prints of known suspects - one being the uncle of Tracy Dyer who was staying with Dyer at the time of the offense and who had a prior felony conviction for burglary, and the other having been identified by police as a suspect in a previous burglary at the same residence.

In May of 2008, counsel for Mr. Matthews was informed that the unidentified prints retrieved from the home had been lost or misplaced. Just last week, however, ten days before Mr. Matthews' scheduled execution, the lost fingerprints were found. In the last few days the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation has attempted to compare these prints with the prints of the alternate suspects, and a written report is expected to be issued within a day or two of the execution. The defense team for Mr. Matthews has not been able to be involved in conducting or overseeing the fingerprint comparisons.

Based on these circumstances, counsel for Mr. Matthews has requested Governor Brad Henry issue a 60-day reprieve so that efforts can be made to satisfactorily resolve the outstanding issue of the fingerprints and identify Dyer's true accomplice.

Governor Henry, in the interests of justice, do not let the execution of a potentially innocent person move forward. Exercise your authority and grant the reprieve to prevent what may be a terrible miscarriage of justice and an unforgivable stain on the State of Oklahoma.

"Thus you will remove from your midst guilt for the blood of the innocent, for you will be doing what is right in the sight of the Lord" (Deuteronomy 21:9).

Urge Governor Henry to intervene immediately and grant Jeffrey Matthews the 60-day reprieve requested by his attorneys:

Governor Brad Henry
Phone: 405 521 2342
Fax: 405 521 3353

UPDATE (6/16):
Governor Brad Henry issued a reprieve!
Thank you, Gov. Henry, for making a correct decision that is in line with the ideals upon which this country was founded.
This case, regardless of the final outcome, shows the bankruptcy of the death penalty. The justice system is comprised by humans prone to error and mistakes, and driven by ego and prestige. It is enough for one rotten apple in this huge system to send an innocent man to his death. That is one more reason why Oklahoma should now conclude from the "close call" nature of this case that it is time to follow in the footsteps of Maryland and abolish the use of death penalty.