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| Oklahoma Board Backs Clemency for Killer |
| By The Oklahoman |
| Published: 01/09/2003 |
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The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted Monday to recommend clemency for killer Bobby Joe Fields. Fields, 39, pleaded guilty in 1994 and was sentenced to die for the 1993 slaying of Louise Schem at her Oklahoma City home. This is the fourth time in two years the board has recommended clemency for a death row inmate. And with the decision so close to the end of Gov. Frank Keating's term, there is a strong likelihood that Fields will receive a stay as early as today, said Dan Mahoney, Keating's spokesman. 'We are leaning very strongly on issuing a 30-day stay,' Mahoney said. 'A man's life is at stake, so it's not worth rushing.' Mahoney said Keating usually takes more time to review clemency cases than the week he has left in office. Gov.- elect Brad Henry will be sworn in Monday, the day before Fields is scheduled for execution. So Henry would have even less time if Keating passed the case to the new administration without a stay. On March 2, 1993, Fields went into Schem's home to steal a television and sell it to buy drugs, court records show. Schem, armed with a .25 caliber pistol, confronted him, and the two wrestled for the weapon. The struggle continued outside. The gun fired, hitting Schem, 77, in the back of the head and killing her. Police initially arrested another man, but later found Fields and arrested him. Fields, who had previously served time for robbery, pleaded guilty to the slaying and an Oklahoma County judge sentenced him to die. At issue is whether Fields deliberately shot Schem or if the gun fired accidentally. Prosecutors claimed at the trial that Fields took the gun from Schem, then shot her as she tried to flee. At Monday's hearing, Fields' attorneys said the gun accidentally fired during the struggle, resulting in the fatal wound. The state Attorney General's office plans to take the case to the governor and ask that he reject the board's recommendation, said Charlie Price, Attorney General Drew Edmondson's spokesman. Fields is scheduled to die by lethal injection Jan. 14 at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, but the date could be pushed back if Keating decides to issue a stay. |
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