OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma state legislators are joining a growing coalition urging mercy in the Kendrick Simpson case, as advocates argue that jurors never heard critical evidence about the trauma that shaped his actions. In a press release distributed Monday, Jan. 5, the Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty announced that state Sen. Nikki Nice, D-Oklahoma City, has joined the organization’s appeal for clemency ahead of Simpson’s hearing before the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board.
Along with other senior members of OK-CADP, advocates say the request for clemency seeks to correct a jury decision made without acknowledgment of Simpson’s acute post-traumatic stress disorder and to grant him another chance at life.
The press release outlines Simpson’s case, focusing on the exclusion of PTSD evidence after the court barred testimony related to the mental disorder, “claiming it was unrelated to guilt or intent.” The coalition challenges that view, presenting what it describes as a fuller account of the circumstances leading up to what it calls a “tragic crime.”
Simpson was a survivor of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and lost his home in New Orleans as a result of the disaster, according to the press release. He was also deprived of basic necessities such as food and water and sought shelter at the New Orleans Convention Center, an experience the release describes as “nightmarish” and reported to have stranded “as many as 25,000 people” without basic services.
OK-CADP notes that Simpson was “already debilitated” before Katrina struck. In 2004, he was the victim of a targeted drive-by shooting and was shot five times after refusing to harm another person. Prior to the hurricane, he reportedly spent months hospitalized and underwent 16 surgeries over a seven-month period.
After entering Oklahoma as a displaced person, the coalition says the combination of this “harrowing experience” and the trauma of Katrina left Simpson with PTSD that manifested as “hyper-vigilant, suspicious and in an extremely fragile physical and mental state.”
Those conditions, advocates argue, set the stage for the events of Jan. 16, 2006. Simpson was confronted by strangers at a nightclub after “unknowingly” wearing a hat whose color “represented rivalry to their gang.” According to the press release, Simpson believed he had “been followed and shot at their vehicle,” and reacted with “panic and fear for his life” when he killed two of the men who confronted him.
The coalition says jurors never heard this context, receiving “very limited evidence, even though it was readily available,” regarding Simpson’s mental state and the reasons for his “extreme reaction.”
“PTSD… is not a disorder that only affects war veterans,” OK-CADP quoted The Oklahoman as reporting. “Mr. Simpson could have had a dissociative episode… and suffered a flashback.”
According to the coalition, Simpson has continued to grow while incarcerated, having “taken advantage of every chance” to “develop well beyond who he was.” The release states that he overcame his trauma sufficiently to pursue and succeed in the “highly demanding world of higher education.”
Simpson is described as a “high-achieving” role model who has influenced incarcerated members of his family to follow his example and take advantage of the “opportunities education affords.”
“Each one of us is more than the worst thing that we have ever done. Given the opportunity each of us will make a valuable contribution to society,” said Dr. Elizabeth Overman, chair of OK-CADP.
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