Pardon board moving forward with clemency hearings for death row inmates after Gov.’s letter

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - The first group of hearing dates for the 56 inmates on death row in Louisiana who are asking to have their sentences commuted to life in prison have been set before the Louisiana Board of Pardons and Committee on Parole.

This comes just one day after Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards sent a letter to the Pardon Board asking for them to hold the hearings.

District Attorney Hillar Moore released the following statement regarding the board on Thursday, Aug. 10.

At the request of the Governor, the Board has apparently been put in the precarious position of following its own rules or complying with the Governor’s request. I am not envious of the position that this Board has been placed by the Governor’s request to the Board he appointed. This Board has my respect. I am concerned that the Board has apparently reversed its previous decision with no hearing. We believe the Board’s action is far beyond the scope of its authority and this process is now at a point where it is blatantly offensive and unfair to the families and loved ones of the victims of these horrendous crimes.

In speaking with family members, they hope that the Governor and those in the decision making process can feel their continued pain. The pain is enduring. There has been no acceptance of guilt or apology in the applications. Yet, these killers are getting royal treatment. This cruel treatment to the victims’ families must stop.

Why are we allowing these heinous murderers who have had every opportunity to have their cases investigated, tried, appealed multiple times and at multiple levels of state and federal court the luxury of an expedited commutation hearing? A normal clemency case takes over 9 months to a year to complete.

I respect the religious beliefs and views of those on both sides of the death penalty issue. This is not a criticism or attempt to quell anyone’s personal beliefs. To the contrary, I simply want the victims’ family members, friends and the public to know we will work tirelessly to ensure that the voices of the victims are heard and the law is upheld.

Dates have been set for 20 of those inmates between October 13 and November 27 in Baton Rouge.

Here is a list WAFB obtained for when those first clemency hearings are scheduled to take place:

The Louisiana District Attorneys Association also weighed in on the decision to move forward by the Parole Board.

Governor John Bel Edwards told the state Pardon Board on Wednesday, August 9 to decide whether or not to grant clemency to most of the inmates on the state’s death row.

The Pardon Board turned away applications from 56 of the 57 death row inmates on July 26, claiming that they were not eligible for clemency due to a recently issued advisory by Attorney General Jeff Landry.

Edwards opposes the death penalty and is asking the application requests for clemency to be reconsidered.

In the new letter to the board, Edwards wrote, “After thoughtful consideration, I am asking the board to set these cases for hearing in a manner least disruptive to the non-capitol cases currently pending before the board.”

“Just read the rules, it’s absolutely nothing in those rules that prevent the board from giving consideration to having a hearing on an application of clemency for death row inmates that are filed beyond the one-year period,” said Gov. Edwards to WAFB on Tuesday, August 9.

Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry dealt a huge blow to the requests weeks ago when he wrote an opinion which basically said certain rules outlining when lawyers could file this clemency application, could not be waved unless there were emergency circumstances.

“Just read the rules, it says that you may file within one year, it doesn’t say you may not file thereafter,” said Gov. Edwards.

Edwards also wrote in the letter, “It is important to note, the question is not whether these individuals should be set free, but whether a state-sanctioned execution meets the values of our pro-life state.”

“But also, as you know in the legislature for the past 3 or 4 years there have been attempts to do away with the death penalty. He (Edwards) says the state is pro-life which obviously that we show, but the state is also showing that they’re pro-death penalty,” said Hillar Moore, EBR District Attorney.

Moore believes that this whole process has been very offensive to victims’ families, especially being done at the last minute, and says the rules need to be followed.

“We’re dealing with the worst of the worst. And I would encourage all your viewers to listen or read the facts behind each one of these 50 cases. They are horrible, they are despicable events, and these are the worst of the worst. These are not the people that we should be jumping over non-capital clemency applications at this time,” said Moore.

“Governor, I guess the big question that some people are asking is, you’ve been in office for 7 years, why now,” questioned WAFB’s Lester Duhe’.

“Well, the petitions were just filed right, earlier this year I think in June. So, I think that answers your question,” said Gov. Edwards.

“If they (clemency requests) do come to your desk, if the pardon board approves, you will accept these requests,” questioned Duhe’.

“Well, first of all, I look at every file that I get from the pardon board individually. I don’t know whether I’ll get 0, 56, some number in between, but they’re always reviewed individually. And I’ll never say in advance, what I will do or what I won’t do. But I do believe that the pardon board needs to exercise the authority that they have under their own rules,” said Edwards.

RELATED: AG Jeff Landry urges Pardon Board to follow rules while considering death row clemency pleas

You can read his letter below:

The following is the LDAA’s response to Gov. Edwards’ letter:

The following are statements from Attorney General Jeff Landry, Louisiana Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty, the Archbishop of New Orleans, the leader of the Capital Appeals Project, and the co-founder of The Innocence Project.

Statement by Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry:

“John Bel Edwards has been Governor for nearly eight years; and now, in the waning days of his tenure, he is trying to circumvent the established legal process to commute the death sentences of Louisiana’s most heinous criminals. In seeking to commute the death sentences of these 56 convicted murderers, John Bel Edwards is attempting to overturn the decisions of 672 Louisiana jurors and 1,344 individual juror votes. These jurors took time from their families and jobs to go through weeks of intensive and stressful litigation. They had the courage to stand up and vote in favor of the victims of these horrible crimes and render the appropriate death sentences. The criminals they convicted have murdered innocent people, including law enforcement officers. These cases involved intensive investigations by hundreds of law enforcement officers. Hundreds of family members and secondary victims suffered from those murders and were involved directly or indirectly with the trials. Numerous district judges presided over the lengthy and difficult trials – following the law in issuing the death sentences. The commutation to a life sentence is the first step in converting the sentences to a set period of time with eligibility for parole or release. So, as a lame duck governor with less than five months left on his term, John Bel Edwards seeks to insult the judgment of thousands of Louisiana citizens, law enforcement officers, judges, and crime victims.”

Statement by E. King Alexander, Louisiana Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty:

“Louisiana’s history with the death penalty gives the Governor good reason to ask the Clemency Board to review the state’s death penalty cases. The Louisiana constitution gives him the authority, and issues of severe mental illness, childhood trauma, intellectual disability, and others are good reasons for the Board to examine them further. I hope the Board follows suit and gives these cases their attention.”

Statement by Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans :

“We join in support of the Governor’s action to have the Louisiana Board of Pardons and Committee on Parole schedule clemency hearings for each person on death row. At the same time, we continue to pray for the victims and their families and for their healing and for an end to violence in our communities.”

Statement by Cecelia Kappel, Executive Director, Capital Appeals Project:

“We are grateful for Governor Edwards’ leadership in putting the capital clemency applications on the Pardons Board’s docket. Louisiana has been moving away from the death penalty for decades; hearing these individuals’ cases will bring to light the fundamentally broken nature of Louisiana’s death penalty, which overwhelmingly impacts people of color and those with serious mental illness and intellectual disability, and has an alarming exoneration rate”

Statement by Barry Scheck, co-founder of The Innocence Project:

“The Governor’s actions today will allow those on Louisiana’s death row to receive fair consideration for clemency at this critical juncture in Louisiana’s broken death penalty system. Executive clemency has always provided a critical failsafe in our justice system; commuting the sentences of those on death row will eliminate the very real risk of executing the innocent in Louisiana.”

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