Oklahoma Court Lifts Stay, Sets John Hanson Execution Thursday

John Hanson, a death row inmate convicted for the 1999 kidnapping and murder of Mary Bowles, is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on Thursday in Oklahoma. Despite a temporary stay granted by an Oklahoma County judge due to a lawsuit alleging bias in the clemency hearing, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals unanimously reversed the stay, stating the judge lacked authority to grant it and that the delay was unjustified. Hanson's lawsuit claimed that a member of the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board who voted against clemency had previously worked as a prosecutor involved in his resentencing trial, but the court noted this did not affect the clemency denial outcome. The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board had voted 3-2 against clemency, with the contested vote being part of the majority. Hanson had previously escaped execution twice and was transferred from a Louisiana federal prison to Oklahoma following a presidential commutation by Donald Trump. His execution is part of a series of four scheduled executions across the United States this week.