By Rena Abdusalam
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – Despite the Oklahoma Board of Pardons and Parole recommending his death sentence be commuted, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt declined to stop the execution of Phillip Hancock, who was killed Thursday morning.
On Nov. 8, Hancock’s clemency hearing was held. The state’s Board of Pardons and Parole granted a recommendation of clemency after hearing new evidence presented at the hearing.
According to his defense, on April 26, 2001, Hancock was summoned to Bob Jett’s Oklahoma City house under the false pretense of needing to pick up his ex-girlfriend, Kathy Quick. Quick later admitted that she promised to pay Jett to “take care of” Hancock because he did not approve of her methamphetamine use.
Hancock arrived at Jett’s house unarmed and saw that Jett’s friends, James Lynch and Shawn Tarp were also there. Jett, who was high on methamphetamine, was working on a motorcycle in the living room and was becoming increasingly agitated, said Hancock’s defense.
After receiving a phone call and becoming enraged over an open cigarette pack, Jett, who was armed with a handgun and two knives, threatened Hancock with a metal bar, ordering him to get into a cage large enough to hold a person.
Hancock thought that going into the cage “equaled death” and that “there was no way [Jett] could put [him] in a cage and let [him] out,” his defense maintains.
Again, according to the defense, Hancock admitted to fatally shooting Jett and Lynch with Jett’s gun, having managed to get away as he was being attacked by the two men. After assuring Tarp that he was not going to hurt her, Hancock left Jett’s house. Hancock fled the scene and did not go to the hospital or police, as he feared retaliation from Jett and Lynch’s gang associates.
Hancock was prosecuted by an Oklahoma City District Attorney’s Office that was still affected by the culture of Bob Macy, a past Oklahoman District Attorney who was personally responsible for 54 death sentences from 1980 to 2001, argued Hancock’s lawyers.
Continuing under his successor, the overreach and misconduct of the Macy era led to the Oklahoma Death Penalty Review Commission to make its 2017 recommendations in reforming the state’s death penalty system, charged the defense, adding Hancock’s lead trial attorney and co-counsel at the time acknowledged that they were battling drug and alcohol addiction while representing Hancock.
In a sworn declaration, the lawyer says he is “haunted” by the inadequacy of his defense and recognizes that he failed to show to the jury that Hancock was fighting for his life at Jett’s house.
In a sworn statement, added Hancock’s appeal lawyers, the jury foreperson also declared that she has come to question her verdict based on information that was not presented at trial, such as evidence revealing that Hancock was lured to Jett’s house to be attacked and Hancock’s extreme trauma history that affects his perception of threat and decision-making.
Pertinent to Hancock’s defense, Hancock’s trial counsel, said the defense now, failed to present that evidence or other extensive evidence portraying Jett and Lynch’s reputations for violence such as their involvement in violent motorcycle gangs, forced prostitution, and selling methamphetamine.
After learning new information, the juror said, “to learn now that Quick set this whole thing up with Bob Jett to get rid of Phil means there is blood on his hands” and that it “makes me want to now step forward and even attend a clemency appeal hearing.”
Although the juror supports capital punishment, she believed that Hancock “is a human being who deserved to have a fair shot with all of the facts on the table.”
Additionally, Hancock, who was on death row for nearly 20 years, had an outstanding institutional record and no single disciplinary write-up, his lawyers claim.
Former Oklahoma Department of Corrections Director Justin Jones described Hancock’s prison record as “exemplary,” stressing that there are plentiful opportunities for death row prisoners to engage in misconduct in which Hancock never conducted.
Director Jones also mentioned that Hancock had many cellmates without incident, was allowed to move to a non-death-row unit, and was permitted contact visits as evidence of his behavioral record and character.
When Hancock petitioned a clemency hearing with the new evidence, it garnered widespread support, noted his lawyers now. Republican State Representatives Kevin McDugle, Justin “J.J.” Humphrey, State Senator David Bullard attended the hearing in support, as did the jury foreperson and others who agreed that his execution would be a grievous injustice.
“The state of Oklahoma unlawfully killed Phillip Hancock today in spite of a recommendation for clemency from the Board,” stated Shawn Nolan, one of Hancock’s attorneys.
“Governor Stitt unconscionably declined to stop the execution, ignoring the unwavering support of many of his allies including Republican State Representatives Kevin McDugle and Justin “JJ” Humphrey and State Senator David Bullard,” added Nolan.
Nolan continued,, “We are profoundly sad that Oklahoma executed Phil for protecting himself from a violent attack. This was a clear case of self-defense and the Governor and the state ignored a wealth of evidence showing that Phil was fighting for his life. He fought to stay out of a cage to defend his life only to be caged and tragically killed by the state.”
“Phil had an exemplary record over the twenty years that he was housed on death row. He was a caring son and devoted brother. The tragedy of this killing is outrageous, and all Oklahomans should be ashamed. May Phil rest in peace,” said Nolan.
