Oklahoma’s death row is dwindling with each execution. No state court has imposed a death sentence since May 13, 2022, when a Tulsa County judge followed a jury’s recommendation and sentenced David Ware to death for the murder of Tulsa Police Sgt. Craig Johnson. Since then, the state has executed 10 men at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, the latest being convicted child murderer Kevin Underwood on Dec. 19. Three death row prisoners have exhausted their appeals and could be put to death in 2025 in 90-day intervals, as requested by Attorney General Gentner Drummond to accommodate corrections staff. The nearly 1,000-day stretch without a new death sentence is Oklahoma’s longest since at least 1974, according to data compiled by the Death Penalty Information Center, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that does not take a position on the death penalty but describes itself as critical of how it’s administered. Robin Maher, the organization’s executive director, said Oklahoma’s reduced use of capital punishment mirrors national trends. Twenty-one people received a death sentence in the U.S. in 2023, down considerably from 43 in 2018 and 79 in 2013. “I think most Americans have concluded that the death penalty doesn’t, in fact, keep them any safer,” Maher said. “The promise of the death penalty for many years was that it would have a deterrent effect on violent crime, but no study has been able to substantiate that effect. There’s also been an increased awareness of the errors in the death penalty system.” Maher said the defense attorneys have also become more aware of the effect severe mental illness can have on criminal behavior. Oklahoma courts stayed the executions of two Oklahoma prisoners set to be put to death in 2024, James Ryder and Wade Lay, after psychologists determined they were incompetent to be executed. “That’s one reason you’re seeing juries return sentences other than death and another reason why you’re seeing prosecutors reluctant to seek a death sentence for someone who is severely ill,” she said. State law allows prosecutors to seek the death penalty for first-degree murder if the crime meets one of several aggravating circumstances, including if the defendant killed a law enforcement officer or the crime was especially heinous or cruel. But several other factors weigh on prosecutors deciding whether or not to seek a death sentence. Capital cases are about three times more expensive to prosecute than those seeking a sentence of life without parole, according to the Oklahoma Death Penalty Review Commission report issued in March 2017, and all jurors must agree that they are willing to sentence the defendant to death. The appeals process in capital cases typically lasts more than a decade, straining all involved parties. “This process is extremely lengthy and arduous on both parties,” Cleveland County District Attorney Greg Mashburn wrote in an opinion article detailing his use of capital punishment, noting that the defense and prosecution must subsequently present evidence to the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals after a death sentence is handed down. Don Heath, chair of the Oklahoma Coalition to End the Death Penalty, said he can’t speak for why prosecutors have become more reluctant to seek capital punishment. But the Edmond minister believes that the overall decline is a positive sign for those opposed to the death penalty. “I think we’re finally, blessedly getting away from the legacy of Bob Macy,” Heath said.Macy, a former Oklahoma County district attorney, successfully sought death sentences for 54 people. Three of those convictions were overturned on appeal. A handful of cases in which prosecutors are seeking the death penalty are pending. In Pottawatomie County, Frank Byers faces execution for allegedly murdering his wife, Makayla Meave, in September 2023. A trial date has not been set. In Cleveland County, Chace Cook faces death for allegedly murdering and sexually assaulting 18-year-old Madeline Bills in April 2023. The trial is scheduled for October.Keaton Ross covers democracy and criminal justice for Oklahoma Watch. Contact him at (405) 831-9753 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @_KeatonRoss.The post As Oklahoma Executions Continue, New Death Sentences Grow Rare appeared first on Oklahoma Watch.