“I don’t blame you”: Oklahoma death row inmate James Coddington forgives Governor Stitt for denying clemency before execution

In his final speech, Oklahoma death row inmate James Coddington forgave the state governor for refusing to pardon him. Coddington was executed at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester by being administered a lethal injection on Thursday.

The 50-year-old Coddington was serving time for the 1997 murder of 73-year-old Albert Hale. Despite the state Pardon and Parole Board agreeing to spare his life, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt refused to grant the prisoner clemency.

Before he was administered the injection, James Coddington said:

"To all my family and friends, lawyers, everyone who’s been around me and loved me, thank you. Gov. Stitt, I don’t blame you and I forgive you."

Concerning clemency, a statement from Stitt's office said:

"After thoroughly reviewing arguments and evidence presented by all sides of the case, Governor Kevin Stitt has denied the Pardon and Parole Board's clemency recommendation for James Allen Coddington."

Coddington was pronounced dead at 10.16 AM, becoming the fifth Oklahoma inmate to die after the state announced the resumption of executions in October 2021.

In September 2015, Oklahoma paused executions after prison officials found out that they received the wrong lethal drug and that one of the inmates was administered the same. As per reports, it went against the state protocols for execution proceedings.

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James Coddington was sentenced to death for bludgeoning Albert Hale

James Coddington beat Albert Hale to death with a hammer after the latter declined to give him money to buy cocaine. His criminal streak did not stop there, as he went on to commit at least six armed robberies at gas stations and convenience stores across Oklahoma City.

However, at his clemency hearing, Coddington told the five-member Pardon and Parole Board how he was a changed man. An emotional Coddington also sought forgiveness from Hale's family.

James Coddington's guilt over the killing, his "exemplary" prison record, and the childhood trauma he faced were some of the points stressed before his clemency hearing took place. His attorney, Emma Rolls, told the board how Coddington's father would fill baby bottles with beer and whiskey, eventually turning him into an addict.

Meanwhile, prosecutors in the state attorney general's office, in their letter to the Pardon and Parole Board, wrote:

"When the full circumstances of the murder, related robberies, and extensive history of violence on Mr. Coddington’s part are considered, one thing is clear: death is the only just punishment for him."

After Stitt refused to pardon James Coddington's life, Rolls said he was "profoundly disheartened." She stated that the clemency recommendation "acknowledged James's sincere remorse and meaningful transformation during his years on death row."

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Albert Hale's son says James Coddington's apology did not feel genuine

Mitch Hale, son of the victim Albert Hale, was present in the witness room from where he watched Coddington get strapped to a gurney and injected with the lethal drug. He stated that Coddington's apology for the killing was not very genuine.

"He proved today it wasn’t genuine. He never apologized. He didn’t bring up my dad."

Hale added:

"I forgive him, but that doesn’t release him from the consequences of his actions."

There was no mention of Albert Hale in James Coddington's final speech.