Attorney General Gentner Drummond has filed an emergency petition insisting that the state Pardon and Parole Board proceed with its meeting scheduled for Wednesday. This action comes after the board postponed the clemency hearing of convicted child murderer Kevin Underwood due to the recent resignation of two board members. According to a statement obtained by the Oklahoma Attorney General's Office, despite the shakeup, a sufficient number of board members remains to form a quorum.
In a writ of mandamus filed with the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals, Drummond articulated a plea against what he views as an unnecessary postponement of justice, referencing the already lengthy duration Jamie Rose Bolin's family has endured waiting for closure. “Jamie’s family has already waited 18 agonizing years to see justice served,” Drummond said on the Oklahoma Attorney General's Office website. “Adding further delay is needless and unconscionable.” Stepping down only recently, the two board members created a disarray which has momentarily halted the process.
The case at the heart of this legal urgency involves the 2006 murder of 10-year-old Jamie Rose Bolin by her neighbor, Kevin Underwood. In a crime that shook the state, Underwood plotted for months to kidnap, assault, and kill the fifth grader, also harboring cannibalistic intentions. Convicted in 2008, Underwood was sentenced to death, a sentence Drummond is adamant should be carried out without further delays.
Underwood's defense has not been silent in the midst of this high-stakes legal scuffle. They argue that fair consideration for clemency is being jeopardized by expedited procedures. "Kevin Underwood is a deeply evil monster whose execution absolutely should be carried out without further setback," Drummond urged on the Oklahoma Attorney General's Office, casting a pall over any doubt about the state's stance on the matter. However, the Pardon and Parole Board's decision to postpone the hearing suggests that the push for immediate resolution is not universally shared.
With this petition, Drummond has brought the issue to a critical junction; the court's response could effectively either affirm the state's commitment to prompt justice for the harrowed family of Jamie Rose Bolin, or grant more time for deliberation on whether clemency should be a consideration in Underwood's fate.
