March 26, 2017
Phillip Dewitt Smith was the first death row inmate in more than 30 years to be spared death by an Oklahoma governor. For a man determined to one day prove his innocence, it's a welcomed sentence.
Smith was convicted by a jury in the 1983 Muskogee murder of
Matthew Taylor, who was struck 16 times with a blunt instrument. Life without parole was not an option for the jury in 1984 when Smith was given a death sentence.....
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/state...773a29a7c.html
https://www.amnesty.org/download/Doc...10212001en.pdf