Michael Smith clemency rejected, makes final plea

OKLAHOMA COUNTY, Okla. (KFOR) – Michael Smith was denied clemency during his hearing on Wednesday in regards to a double murder he committed in 2002.

This came just days after the Oklahoma House Criminal Justice and Corrections Committee unanimously passed a bill that would pause all pending executions and prohibit new death sentences while an independent task force reviews current Oklahoma death penalty procedures.

Throughout the hearing, the Attorney General’s Office released never-before-seen confession footage from over two decades ago. The AG’s office laid out the evidence and witness statements that led the board members to vote.

In the end, the Pardon and Parole Board voted 4-to-1, ultimately rejecting Smith’s request for clemency and keeping his execution date as April 4.

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“I am so, so, so, sorry,” said Smith during a Zoom call at the hearing. Smith was given a 15-minute time limit to plead to the board.

He spent the first minute or two apologizing to the family members of the victims.

Janet Moore and Sharath Pulluru were killed in February 2002. The court convicted Michael Smith for their murders, which were committed on the same day.

Prosecutors laid out how Smith shot Moore and then shot Pulluru. Smith stated that in both murders, “they were at the wrong place at the wrong time.”

At the hearing, Moore’s son sat before the board, and many loved ones of the two victims gave some words as to what his actions did to their family.

“Not only was she loved, she represented love,” said Phillip, Moore’s son. “With heavy and hurting hearts she was the pillar of our community. She was the mother of an only son whom she cherished dearly who now is a motherless child. We hold faith in knowing that God is an orderly God. Her losing her life in this tragic way is out of order. We hold faith knowing that order will be established and justice will be served.”

A statement was made by the brother of Sharath, Harish Pulluru. “Sharath was a wonderful person, he was the first in our family to come to the United States in our family. He is the reason I became a doctor. When he first came to the United States I would wait in a phone booth in India for him to call and cherished every conversation we had. I saw the pain that my parents lived with every day. Sharath was a loving son, brother, and uncle. He was the life of our family. We are a very close family and his sudden death in such a violent manner has affected our lives every day since. We ask that clemency be denied.”

“If she wouldn’t have panicked she would still be here today,” that was one of the many clips played from a 2002 confession tape made by Smith. The Attorney General’s Office played a couple of clips.

In another clip, Smith is seen motioning as to how he shot Moore, “she panicked and she got shot. She was like help, help, help.”

In the clips, Smith is also seen describing the killing of Pulluru as well, “He’s like, let me see your money so I pulled my gun out and shot his a$%. I was like blah, blah, blah.” Smith can be heard making gunshot noises several times.

According to officials, Pulluru was shot at least nine times and then his body was burned with some sort of lighter fluid.

In the confession clips, Smith describes how and why he burned Pulluru’s body. “I just peeled the cap off (of the lighter fluid) and poured it all on his a%$. Poured it on whatever I touched. Poured the gas on the cash register and then I burnt that sh$% up.”

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The family argued that the confession should be thrown out because not only was Smith high on the drug PCP but he was mentally incapable of telling the truth.

“Somebody told me something while I was high, I wouldn’t confess to nothing if I weren’t,” said Smith during his plea to the board. “I have nobody for you, I don’t know who did these crimes. I don’t remember anything you know. You arrested me when I was high on PCP. I was immediately placed on suicide watch.”

Smith cried at the beginning when speaking about how sorry he was for the family of the victims. Smith’s family cried and began to support each other while he spoke.

The board recessed for only a couple of minutes before they made their decision and voted 4-to-1 to reject Smith’s clemency.

At Wednesday’s hearing sat Senator Connie Johnson who for a long time has spoken out against death penalty cases. After the decision was made she pushed reform with how Oklahoma handles the death penalty.

“His execution is going forward even though the house committee unanimously approved a bill on a moratorium on death penalty cases,” said Senator Johnson. “To see that others are talking about a moratorium is an amazing thing to see.”

The bill Senator Johnson is talking about is House Bill 3138, which was introduced by Republican Representative Kevin McDugle and would create a five-member Death Penalty Reform Task Force to “study and report on the progress of implementing reforms to the use of the death penalty in this state.”

The bill calls for an execution moratorium through November 2029, but Rep. McDugle said that he is willing to amend that date to 2026. Following the committee vote, the bill is now eligible to be debated for a full vote on the House floor. Language in the bill allows it to take effect immediately, should Governor Kevin Stitt sign it into law.

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