Marshal and an Oklahoma drug agent involved in the fatal shooting of a prison escapee were both justified in using deadly force.
"[5] In 2021, Richard Smothermon replaced Comanche County Judge Allen McCall on the pardon and parole board.
[7] The Governor's choice of another former district attorney came "in an election year as Stitt is being accused in TV attack ads of being soft on crime."
In the Tulsa World, DAs were also blamed for taking an increasingly more political role that has "to some degree weakened" the board's influence.
[15] In June 2023, Randy Bauman, a board member of the Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, wrote that it was unfair Richard Glossip did not have all 5 members in his case and pushed back against the idea that the board is a "safety valve" for an unjust and fallible criminal justice system.
[17] Representative Kevin McDugle has called for Connie Smothermon to face charges in her handling of the case.
[18] McDugle has been outspoken against the district attorneys in Oklahoma for not wanting lookbacks on their cases and the mishandling of the case, [19] [20] holding a press conference in the Oklahoma House of Representatives which called out DAs[21] before the supreme court issued a stay.
[25] Smothermon gave no direct reason for why he resigned, but the Pardon and Parole Board is "currently the target of a lawsuit brought by death-row inmate Richard Glossip after he was denied a clemency recommendation.