Hung Thanh Le
© Okla. Dept. of Corrections
Please pray for a stay of execution for Hung Thanh Le. He is scheduled for execution on Thursday in Oklahoma.
Regardless of your position on capital punishment, there seems to be some issues within this case. To quote Amnesty International:
The trial was riddled with prosecutorial misconduct. The prosecution made inflammatory remarks, mis-stated the law as it related to mitigating evidence, referred to facts that were not in evidence and repeatedly dehumanized the defendant in arguing for execution. Oklahoma County prosecutors have repeatedly been criticized by the appeal courts. In Hung Thanh Le’s case, a federal judge wrote in 2002 that “at some point the repeated violation of ethical responsibility threatens the violation of our justice system”. Despite finding that the prosecution’s arguments were “improper” and “irrelevant”, the appeal courts have allowed Hung Thanh Le’s death sentence to stand. It is left to the clemency authorities to provide a remedy.
In fact, the clemency board voted for the first time in Oklahoma history to unanimously commute a death sentence, but Gov. Brad Henry has set aside the recommendation and denied clemency.
You can read more about this case at Amnesty International or at a local news channel.
Update: The execution has been delayed until March 23. The Vietnamese government requested more time to review the case file.