Judge grants temporary stay of execution for Oklahoma death row inmate John Hanson

6/10/2025 UPDATE:

An Oklahoma County judge has temporarily paused the execution of John Hanson, just days before he was scheduled to die by lethal injection.

Hanson was convicted in the 1999 carjacking, kidnapping, and murder of Mary Bowles in Tulsa. His legal team claims his clemency hearing last month was unfair due to potential bias from a board member.

Q: Why was John Hanson’s execution scheduled in the first place?

Hanson was sentenced to death for the 1999 killing of Tulsa resident Mary Bowles during a violent carjacking and kidnapping.

Q: What is Hanson’s legal team arguing now?

Hanson’s attorneys claim he was denied a fair clemency hearing.

In a new petition, his attorney wrote:

“A condemned prisoner, such as Mr. Hanson, possesses a clear and grave interest in the right to due process and the equitable administration of Oklahoma’s constitutional process for executive clemency.”

Q: What was the issue with the clemency hearing?

The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board denied Hanson clemency in a narrow 3–2 vote.

His attorneys say board member Sean Malloy should have recused himself, claiming a conflict of interest due to his past employment in the Tulsa County District Attorney’s Office.

Malloy has said he had no prior involvement in Hanson’s case and was unfamiliar with it before the hearing.

Q: How did John Hanson end up back in Oklahoma?

Hanson had been in federal custody until he was transferred back to Oklahoma last year under a Trump-era executive order that allowed states to reclaim death row inmates for scheduled executions.

Q: What happens next?

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond says the judge had no legal authority to halt the execution and is now asking the state’s Court of Criminal Appeals to intervene.

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Oklahoma Death Row prisoner John Hanson is granted a temporary stay of execution Monday.

Oklahoma County District Judge Richard Ogden granted the stay after Hanson's attorneys filed a lawsuit claiming that a May 7 clemency hearing violated Hanson's rights and requested the stay of execution until the matter is resolved.

In that hearing, clemency was denied. Originally, Hanson was scheduled to be put to death on Thursday, June 12, 2025.

The Oklahoma Department of Corrections (ODOC) says it will move forward as if the execution will continue to take place until they hear one way or another from Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt's office.

Attorney General Gentner Drummond has asked an appeals court to deny the stay, saying the judge doesn't have the grounds to appeal it.

Original story below...

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Attorneys for John Hanson allege his clemency hearing earlier this month violated the Oklahoma Constitution due to the participation of a biased board member.

FROM 5/23/2025:

RELATED: Oklahoma Death Row inmate John Hanson denied clemency, execution set to continue

Hanson’s lawyers argue his case represents a “disturbing miscarriage of justice”. The lawsuit requests the court to declare the clemency hearing from earlier this month to be invalid. His lawyers want a new clemency hearing, and a stay on Mr. Hanson’s execution until that process is complete.

MORE: Oklahoma death row inmate seeks clemency decades after 1999 Tulsa double murder

Hanson's lawyers claim Board Member Sean Malloy was not impartial to the case. He served as a Tulsa County Assistant District Attorney during the time of John Hanson’s resentencing in 2006.

Lawyers said Mr. Hanson’s counsel formally requested Malloy’s recusal before the hearing on May 7, citing this direct connection to the case; the request was denied.

“The Oklahoma Constitution guarantees every person a fair and impartial clemency hearing. That did not happen here,” said Emma Rolls, an attorney for John Hanson. “A board member with direct ties to Mr. Hanson’s prosecution refused to step aside, despite clear grounds for recusal. No one facing execution should have to plead for mercy before someone connected to the case in this way. We’re asking the court to intervene, and to halt this execution until Mr. Hanson receives the process he’s entitled to under law.”

According to Hanson’s lawyers, the hearing violated Article VI, Section 10 of the Oklahoma Constitution, which requires clemency applications to be reviewed by five impartial members. They add, the lawsuit cites both the conditional requirement and Board policy stating that members must recuse themselves where prior involvement in a case would compromise impartiality, or even create the appearance of impropriety.

News 9 has reached out to the State Pardon and Parole Board, which said it does not comment on pending litigation.

Background

In 1999, 77-year-old Mary Bowles was kidnapped from a Tulsa shopping mall, where prosecutors say George Hanson and an accomplice drove her to a remote area near Owasso, where she was shot and killed.

Jerald Max Thurman, who witnessed the crime, was also shot and killed at the scene.

A Tulsa County jury sentenced Hanson to death.

What comes next?

Hanson is set to be executed on June 12, 2025. If carried out, it would mark Oklahoma’s second execution of 2025.