- James Coddington is scheduled to be executed on August 25.
- His killing could be the primary of two dozen scheduled to happen in Oklahoma.
- Coddington’s case highlights the connection between dependancy and the felony justice system.
“If this ends at present with my demise sentence, okay,” a condemned inmate instructed Oklahoma’s Pardon and Parole Board 25 years after a dayslong cocaine bender despatched him to demise row.
James Coddington is scheduled on Thursday to be the primary of two dozen males slated for execution in Oklahoma — a state with a historical past of botched judicial killings that continues to defy the pattern of curbing execution charges throughout the nation.
In 1997, Coddington had gone to the house of 73-year-old Albert Hale, his coworker at a Honda store, to borrow $50 for cocaine. Hale, who refused to provide him the cash, tried escorting him out of his dwelling earlier than Coddington picked up a close-by hammer and struck him with it repeatedly, in line with courtroom filings.
Hours later, Hale was initially discovered alive by his son however later died, after succumbing to the injury inflicted on his mind and cranium, courtroom paperwork recommend. Coddington was sentenced to die in 2003.
Habit and abuse as catalysts for his demise sentence
Oklahoma Division of Corrections by way of AP, File
James Coddington was born to Invoice Coddington and Gala Hood on March 22, 1972. He was the second-youngest of their mixed 9 youngsters and had been topic to a turbulent upbringing, in line with courtroom information.
Each of Coddington’s dad and mom skilled dependancy, which he would additionally endure. Ranging from the time he was an toddler, Coddington’s father and older brothers commonly spiked his child bottles with alcohol, his siblings confirmed to the courtroom.
Equally, lots of Coddington’s siblings additionally struggled with drug abuse and several other had been out and in of jail for drug-related crimes.
His mom had been out and in of jail whereas he was younger, leaving his father to run the family. Authorized filings recommend the Oklahoma Metropolis home — the place the bathtub was used as a bathroom as pests and roaches ran rampant — was “not even match for a rat.”
Courtroom filings mentioned Invoice Coddington, who had his personal run-ins with the regulation, bodily abused James all through his childhood.
His mom recalled Invoice Coddington “whipping [James] exhausting or slapping him or hitting him or if he bought too rowdy, [Bill Coddington would] throw a bottle filled with whiskey or beer and simply knock him out,” per courtroom paperwork.
Ngozi Ndulue, deputy director of the Dying Penalty Info Heart, instructed Insider that acknowledging James Coddington’s relationship with dependancy and the felony justice system throughout his upbringing is important to know his journey to demise row.
“I simply do not wish to lose monitor of the truth that his life, from a really early age, was affected by the felony authorized system, after which additionally by individuals with substance use problems actually shaping the childhood that he had and making it more likely that he would find yourself in that cycle of drug use,” Ndulue mentioned.
A medical examination accomplished by an Oklahoma psychiatrist the identical yr discovered that Coddington’s “drug-induced psychosis” led to his “impulsive” killing of Hale. Additional, a psychiatric analysis of Coddington performed in 1998 confirmed that he suffered from “delicate neuropsychological impairment.”
Through the trial, the choose barred a psychiatrist from testifying about Coddington’s incapacity to type “the required intent for first-degree homicide because of his intoxication,” prompting a retrial in 2008. However he was as soon as once more sentenced to die, in line with courtroom filings.
“I believe fascinated by this one second the place he commits this crime that he was deeply remorseful for, with out taking it into the broader context of how the system truly formed him and affected the place he ended up at the moment, I believe is shortsighted,” Ndulue added.
Searching for redemption
Previous to Hale’s demise, Coddington’s life was marred by poverty, dependancy, and abuse, however the 50-year-old inmate has since turned his life round as greatest as doable behind bars, Emma Rolls, Coddington’s lawyer, instructed Insider.
“I am clear, I do know God, I am not … I am not a vicious assassin,” Coddington mentioned at a parole listening to searching for clemency.
Rolls mentioned killing Hale marked a turning level for Coddington as demonstrated by his “exemplary behavioral file” and involvement within the jail: “It made him not wish to stay out any extra moments in useless.”
Throughout his time within the Oklahoma jail, Coddington obtained his GED and have become a person of religion, authorized filings mentioned.
On the jail, he’d additionally taken on the position of unit orderly — serving to with workers wants all through the jail — and the position of run man — during which he gave different inmates their meal trays.
Coddington was even chosen as one in all 4 demise row inmates to take part in a pilot communal yard time undertaking the place inmates have been positioned in separated outside yards.
In courtroom paperwork, Rolls wrote: “James has lived his transformation on demise row. His sobriety, service, and compliance with guidelines of the society during which he lives are documented. The person the jury convicted and sentenced to demise not exists.”
Oklahoma’s Pardon and Parole Board really useful that Coddington’s demise sentence be commuted to life with out the potential for parole on August 3, however it’s as much as the governor to really cut back his sentence.
“I took a life. It modified me. It modified me in a manner that I am unable to clarify, however it modified me. It took a fireplace out of my abdomen that I had my whole life and it made me calm. I do not know why he needed to die to try this, however it did. It calmed me. And I am unable to apologize sufficient for what I did,” Coddington instructed the board throughout his clemency listening to.
Coddington’s execution date is about for August 25 except Gov. Kevin Stitt, a pro-death penalty conservative, commutes his sentence.
“He lives the lifetime of compassion, of peace, of service and atonement. And I believe that is the true testomony of his perception. He isn’t an individual who’s going to with out humility, focus on his beliefs. However each day he lives out the rules of redemption,” Rolls instructed Insider.
“That is the purest case that the governor will doubtless see that entails these ideas,” Rolls added.
