Arkansas: Denial

Gov. Mike Beebe has denied Heath Stocks' application for a commutation of sentence. Stocks, who killed his mother, father and younger sister, was seeking to become eligible for parole. A spokesman for the governor provided no explanation for the decision. See story here.

Arkansas: Recommendation

The State Parole Board has recommended, for the fifth time, that 39-year old Denver Mitchell Jr. receive a commutation of sentence so as to be eligible for parole. Mitchell, who claims he is innocent, is serving a life sentence for the 1990 beating death of a 74-year old man who picked him up as a hitchhiker. The daughter of the victim has also filed an affidavit supporting clemency. See story here and here.

Arkansas: Petition Still Up in the Air

The Arkansas Leader reports Gov. Mike Beebe "has not granted clemency to a man who killed his family 11 years ago, but neither has he denied it." Beebe did deny 31 requests on Friday and took no action on 41 additional applications. Meanwhile, the clemency petition of Heath Stocks - the second petition he has submitted - has already been judged to be without merit by a parole board. Nonetheless, it is technically still up for consideration. The story also notes Stocks' petition arrived in January and, by law, the governor has 240 days to respond (Are you reading this citizens and lawmakers in the State of Illinois)? The original sentence was life in prison without the possibility of parole, but there many interesting angles to the case. See full story here.

Arkansas: 8 Pardons

Governor Beebe has announced his intentions to grant 8 pardons for individuals who have completed their jail sentences and fulfilled all parole-and-probationary requirements. They have also paid all fines related to their sentences. Under State law, there is a 30-day "waiting period" in which "public feedback" is to be collected. Among the offenses pardoned:

1. burglary, theft 2. battery 3. burglary, theft (objected to by prosecutors) 4. possession of meth with intent to deliver 5. burglary, theft by deception, possession of controlled substance with intent to deliver 6. delivery of a counterfeit substance 7. possession of a controlled substance 8. forgery. See article here.

Arkansas: 9 Pardons

Governor Mike Beebe has announced that he will grant nine pardons. One will go to a woman who was convicted in 1992 of possession of cocaine with intent to deliver. The grant is opposed by the Pulaski County sheriff. The other pardons cover such offenses as forgery, theft of property, breaking and entering, receiving and possession of an instrument of a crime and delivery of marijuana. It is also reported that an additional 21 clemency requests were denied and 40 received no action. See story here.

Arkansas: Pardon

Gov. Mike Beebe has announced his intent to grant a pardon to Harold White, who was convicted in 1987 of delivery of marijuana. However, prosecutor Robin Carroll is objecting to the pardon application. See story here.

Arkansas: A Huckabee Pardon

Here is a great article about one Jimmy Hinton, who dealt cocaine for five years and could be seen carrying around hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, that is until a routine traffic stop in 1995. Hinton then spent five years in prison. And, when he left, former Governor Mike Huckabee (R)granted him a pardon. Now Hinton shares his story in elementary schools and in juvenile detention facilities. As he tells his listenters, "My calling now is, after all I've gone through, is to reach back and get you, so I want to stop you before you get to where I had to go."

Arkansas: Recommendation

The Arkansas State Parole Board is recommending that Govenor Mike Beebe (D) grant clemency to one Anthony F. Thrash, a convicted killer who escaped from prison in 1996, only to be recaptured within months. Trash is currently serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for a 1980 murder. The Board,however, is recommending that that sentence be commuted to 23 years. Thrash maintains he is innocent but his clemency application says he has not been "sitting around simply holding resentments or festering anger, bitterness and hostility." The clemency application is also opposed by the Desha County sheriff's office and prosecutors. See story here.

Arkansas: Clemency Remembered

The Arkansas Times features an editorial on the death penalty. Along the way, it notes:

Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller's last official act was to spare the lives of 15 prisoners on Arkansas's Death Row. “What earthly mortal has the omnipotence to say who among us shall live and who shall die?” he asked in 1970. “I cannot and will not turn my back on lifelong Christian teachings and beliefs merely to let history run out its course on a fallible and failing theory of punitive justice.”

See full editorial here.

Arkansas: The Pardoned Candidate

Former Arkansas attorney general Steve Clark has finally announced that he will seek to become the mayor of Fayetteville - see previous posts on his candidacy here and here. The 61-year-old Clark was convicted of felony theft when he misused a state credit card in 1990. He was fined only $15,407 and court costs and lost his Arkansas law license. But Governor Mike Huckabee (R) pardoned Clark (a Democrat) in 2004. See reports here and here.

Arkansas: Pencil That In - Somewhere Else!

The Arkansas Democrat and Gazette reports that the state Supreme Court Committee on Professional Conduct has ruled that a Little Rock attorney must repay the parents of a prison inmate for the $750 fee charged for the completion of a clemency application. It has since been learned that the lawyer completed the application in pencil - instead of the required ink. Mercy!

Arkansas: Clemency for No Conviction?

The 2006 mayoral election for Altus - where Gary Zolliecoffer thumped incumbent Veronica Post by a vote of 136 to 123 - is shaking up the political world. Zolliecoffer is accused of having violated state law by signing a pledge indicating he had never been convicted of a felony. Indeed, he was disqualified from office on the finding that he was convicted of burglary and grand larceny in 1965, when he was a mere lad, sixteen years of age. Zolliecoffer's attorney insists court files do not include a signed judgment and that there is no proof of a conviction. But, it is now reported that Zolliecoffer applied to a court for clemency in 2006, admitting to the crime in the accompanying paperwork. The Franklin County Election Commission has declared Zolliecoffer the official winner. But lawyers for Post note that he must be "commissioned” by Gov. Mike Beebe. That is to say, a document must be presented saying the mayor-elect is certified as rightful winner and entitled to be mayor. To date, that has not happened. See full story here. See additional background here and here.

Arkansas: Recommendations

The state parole board has recommended that Governor Mike Beebe grant 12 commutations of sentence, including 3 commutations of life sentences for three convicted murderers - Bobby Charles Nelson, Enous O'Neal Jr. and Jerry Sims - all of whom were convicted of first-degree murder (in 1972, 1972 and 1984 respectively). Nelson says that he is sorry for his actions, but explains that he was helping a friend in a fight. O'Neal claims he shot someone accidentally while hunting deer at night. The board also recommended that Beebe grant 15 pardons. See story here and here.

Arkansas: Pardon Revisited (Update)

In a recent post (here: Arkansas: Pardon Revisited), PardonPower discussed the case of the former Attorney General of Arkansas, Steve Clark, who now desires to be mayor of Fayetteville. Problem is Clark is a convicted felon. Good news is that he was pardoned by former Gov. Mike Huckabee, in 2004. It is now contended that Arkansas Supreme Court rulings suggest that a pardon alone does not make Clark eligible. The attorney for the secretary of state says an expungement of the conviction is required before Clark can run again. See story here.

Arkansas: Pardon Revisited

Steve Clark served as attorney general for the State of Arkansas from 1979-90 and was widely considered to be a potential Democratic nominee for governor in 1990. Then an investigation found that he had spent $ 115, 000 in such a way that he was eventually convicted of felony theft. Clark resigned from office and was fined $10,000. He was also ordered to pay restitution and court costs. In 2004, then-Gov. Mike Huckabee pardoned Clark, who is now an instructor for the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. Clark also collects fees to give speeches on addiction, ethics and the law. Now, he is considering running for Fayetteville mayor. The Arkansas State Constitution prohibits those who are convicted of embezzling public money or “other infamous crimes” from holding any office of trust in Arkansas, but Huckabee's pardon has cleared the way for Clark to return to the world of politics. See full story here.

Arkansas: Recommendations

The Arkansas State Parole Board has recommended clemency in four instances, two of which involved inmates serving life sentences. Both of the later recommendations were opposed by prosecutors. Terrance Proctor was 17-years old when he was found guilty of 10 counts of aggravated robbery, one count of robbery, one count of attempt to commit murder and two counts of second-degree battery. Proctor's clemency application says he was "misled and by incompetent counsel to openly plea to the court, which led to the judge venting his displeasure at petitioner's charges and buried petitioner alive in prison at age 17." The application also says his life plus 200 years was "cruel and unusual punishment." Ruth Sumlin stole a car after shooting (and killing) its owner and entered the Columbia County jail on Thanksgiving evening with a gun and knife in order to free her husband. Four other inmates escaped in the process. The Board's recommendations will go to the governor after a 30-day public-notice period. See complete story here.

Arkansas: Request

Five men robbed a Senor Bob's Taco Hut in Fort Smith in 1981. Among them was 29-year-old Rolf Kaestel who carried a toy water pistol. No one was hurt in the robbery and the net was $264 - which was returned after a prompt arrest. Four of the robbers agreed to testify against Kaestel in exchange for a charge of simple robbery and were given a five-year suspended sentence. They then served less than 120 days in jail. Meanwhile, Kaestel opted to represent himself and was charged with aggravated robbery. With three prior convictions for robbery in the mix, the jury sentenced him to life in prison without parole and threw in a fine of $15,000. The Arkansas Supreme Court affirmed the conviction, and Kaestel (now 58) has made eight appeals for executive clemency. In 1992, the Executive Clemency Board actually gave him a favorable recommendation, but Gov. Jim Guy Tucker did not act. Kaestel's application is now supported by the very clerk he robbed! Some are concerned that Kaestel's 1999 appearance in “Factor 8,” a documentary about the Arkansas prison blood scandal, may have been costly. His relationship with prison officials has certainly been strained ever since. Afterward, he was also transferred, against his will, to another state. See story here.

Arkansas: Recommendation

The Arkansas Parole Board has recommended clemency for Annie Varnell Ross , a 74-year-old woman sentenced to life in prison for first-degree murder back in 1983. In her latest clemency application, Ross wrote that she killed an "abusive man" while defending herself from him (a position that she also held at trial). She also emphasizes that she suffers from diabetes and has a crippled hand. The board says Ross "has paid her debt and she promises to be no threat to society." However, prosecutor Robin Carroll opposes the request because he makes it a "practice" to "oppose all such requests when a jury's decided it should be a life sentence." The Ouachita County Sheriff's Department offered no comment to the parole board. See story here.

Arkansas: Request

On Friday, the Arkansas parole board voted 3-1 in favor of clemency for a woman convicted of murder and kidnapping in 1977. Governor Mike Beebe (D) is being asked to commute Twyanna Faye Martin’s life sentence and make her eligible for parole. The request, however, is opposed by a prosecutor and a sheriff. A report notes Beebe will consider the recommendation after a "30-day public comment period."

Martin was 19 years old at the time of the offense and was convicted along with three others. Today, she declares that she has sought forgiveness from the family of the victim, but adds that she got "too much time" for a crime she did not commit. In 2000, Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) announced that he intended to grant Martin clemency, saying he had the support of the victim's family. But some family members said they were not consulted. After the "public comment period," Huckabee took no action. In October 2006, the board recommended clemency, but Huckabee completed his term two months later and left office. See complete story here and here.

Arkansas: Denials

On Monday, Gov. Mike Beebe (Arkansas- D) denied the clemency request of 67 year old blues musician Calvin Leavy, who is serving a 75-year sentence for drug and bribery offenses. Leavy was famous for such songs as "Cummins Prison Farm," "Free from Cummins Prison Farm," "Going to the Dogs," and "Is it Worth All That I'm Going Through?" He was convicted in 1992 as the first person charged under the state’s “drug kingpin law.” Last April, the Arkansas Parole Board recommended executive clemency for Leavy, who was originally sentenced to life plus 25 years in prison. In May 2000, then-Gov. Mike Huckabee commuted his sentenced to 75 years. Another notable rejection was that of the application for Danny Edward Verdict, who has done maintenance work at the governor's mansion for the last nine years. Verdict was convicted in 1992 of first-degree murder after shooting his wife. Verdict writes, in his clemency applicaton, "I loved Marcella and never meant to hurt her." He was sentenced to life in prison, but was also recommended for clemency by the Parole Board. See story reported here.

Arkansas: 26 Pardons

According to the Pine Bluff Commercial, Arkansas Governor Gov. Mike Beebe (D) has announced his intent to pardon 26 people. Beebe also denied clemency or took no action with respect to another 54 applications. Since he took office in January of 2007, Gov. Beebe has granted 66 pardons or commutations (see story here).

Arkansas: Request

The Arkansas State Parole Board has decided that Heath Stocks’ request for a commutation of his sentence is “without merit,” so his bid for clemency is now in the hands of Gov. Mike Beebe (D). Stocks is serving life in prison without parole for the 1997 murder of his father, mother and sister. The Parole Board only makes non-binding recommendations to Beebe. Much of Stocks' argument for clemency is based on the abuse he suffered as a youth at the hands of a scoutmaster. Stocks claims conflicts of interest, political agendas, personal feelings and professional connections prevented pertinent information from being presented in his defense although he admitted to the Jan. 17, 1997, shootings. More specifically, Stocks claims the scoutmaster's father, a former circuit judge, was instrumental in blocking such information. A call for reconsideration of Stocks' circumstances was supported in a letter from the special prosecutor in the scoutmaster's case. Stocks closed his the application with a plea:“I have more remorse and guilt than words can express .… What I ask you to do is to not just see the end result, but what was done along the way.” Read more about this story in the Carlisle Independent, here.