Mostly cloudy this morning. Scattered thunderstorms developing this afternoon. High 84F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

Partly cloudy. Low 68F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph.

A southeastern Oklahoma district attorney filed a petition asking for a competency inquiry of a death row inmate days after a state appellate court ruled to uphold a judge’s ruling in the matter.

District 18 District Attorney Chuck Sullivan filed the petition last week asking for a competency inquiry of Wade Greeley Lay — who was originally scheduled to be the first inmate executed this year in America on Jan. 6 at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester before a judge ordered a competency hearing first.

The petition asks for the court to “at once” summon and impanel a jury to inquire into the competency of Lay and attached a letter dated March 15 from Oklahoma State Penitentiary Warden Jim Farris.

“Pursuant to 22 O.S. § 1005 and the enclosed documents, The Honorable Tim Mills has determined that I have good cause to call to your attention that inmate Wade Lay #516236, who is under a judgement of death, may have become insane,” Farris wrote in the letter. 

Lay was convicted in the 2004 shooting death of Tulsa-area bank security guard Kenneth Anderson.

The Oklahoma Court of Appeals ruled March 11 to uphold District 18 Associate District Judge Tim Mills' December 2021 ruling that "there is good reason to believe" Lay is not competent to be executed.

Mills also ruled that Farris “abused his discretion in failing to call such fact to the attention of the District Attorney of Pittsburg County” and ordered the warden to notify the DA whose office “must immediately file” a petition stating Lay’s conviction, judgment, and that his sanity is in question.

Lay's attorneys said they contacted Farris about the inmate's mental health in October 2021 after a doctor concluded in September 2021 he "is not competent for execution." The attorneys followed up a week later stating if a response was not received in regard to Farris initiating a competency proceeding, then attorneys would seek "judicial remedy."

Oklahoma law states that if a warden has good reason to believe that a defendant sentenced to death "has become insane" then the warden must inform the district attorney where the inmate is situated and ask that the sanity of the inmate be examined with the court "at once" calling and impaneling a jury of 12 people.

Attorneys for the Oklahoma Attorney General's Office argued for the Appeals Court to prohibit the order contending Mills "abused his discretion" when he ordered Farris to initiate the process in asking for a competency hearing and staying the execution of Lay in order for the proceedings to be held.

The AG's office stated Lay was found competent to stand trial by the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals with the decision affirmed by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma and the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.

OCCA ruled that Mills weighed the evidence presented to him when he decided that "Lay had met his burden of showing 'good reason' to believe he is incompetent to be executed."

Contact Derrick James at djames@mcalesternews.com

Sorry, there are no recent results for popular images.

Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos.

Sorry, there are no recent results for popular commented articles.

Sign up now to get our FREE breaking news coverage delivered right to your inbox.

First Amendment: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.