Oklahoma: Michael Smith executed – his lawyer refused to work
On Thursday morning, 41-year-old Michael Dewayne Smith was executed by lethal injection in the US state of Oklahoma. He was sentenced to death for the murder of a 41-year-old woman and a 22-year-old man in 2002.
At a clemency hearing a few weeks ago, Smith broke down in tears as he denied his guilt: “I didn’t commit these crimes. I didn’t kill those people. I was high on drugs. I don’t even remember my arrest.”
Reverend Don Heath, chairman of the Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, issued the following statement in response to the execution: “Michael Smith was a troubled and vulnerable young man with mental retardation. He was ill-advised by his counselors who encouraged him to proclaim his innocence rather than take responsibility for his crimes. This cost him any chance of a pardon. He needed mercy and forgiveness and got none.”
Just how poor Smith’s legal representation was became apparent in the days leading up to his execution. Abraham Bonowitz of Death Penalty Action: “I’ve never seen anything like it. Right now, as I write this, Michael Smith’s family is crowding into Oklahoma City attorney Mark Henricksen’s office to demand that final appeals be filed. On Monday, he had told Michael that he would appeal.”
The attorney had previously refused to further advocate for his client, as Smith had made public. “This afternoon,” Bonowitz continued, “he called Michael to tell him he was out of time and didn’t want to file anything. Now the family has been told that the attorneys are working on an appeal, but their presence in the office to demand action is distracting them. A few minutes ago, the lawyers called security to clarify the situation.”